The next Doom from id Software may be a make or break opportunity for the developer, since Bethesda Softworks’ VP of marketing and PR Pete Hines says no one is assuming it will be awesome. This isn’t so much speaking out against the quality of the game so much as it being so long since a Doom title has been released. In today’s world, a new Doom will certainly have a lot to prove.
Speaking to MCV, Hines took the example of Wolfenstein, which was stuck in a rut before The New Order. “The last couple of games were either ‘ok’ or ‘not great’. It wasn’t a franchise where people were desperate for the next one. Wolfenstein isn’t Uncharted. We knew this would take some explaining. But developer Machine Games has now untarnished the IP.”
“We view that [Doom] similarly to Wolfenstein, because it’s been so long since the last Doom game. We are going in as if we need to prove ourselves all over again. We have no free passes. Nobody will assume this is going to be awesome.
“We are going to have to prove that this is something that’s going to be fun and different that you need to pay attention to. That has to be our default position, we can’t be: ‘It’s Doom, of course you’re going to play it’. But that just makes us work harder.”
Doom will be showcased at this year’s QuakeCon in a special sneak peek for attendees. So look forward to more details emerging from there.