DOOM Eternal Dropped Deathmatch To Keep Players More Happy And Engaged

The latest entry in the legendary shooter series, DOOM Eternal, is looking to be a familiar blast that builds on the already great foundation of the 2016 reboot. id SoftWare is aiming to create the best game they’ve ever made, but it will lack one thing: a traditional deathmatch mode. Why they chose to go that route is rather surprising, too.

Speaking to GamesIndustry, Hugo Martin talked about how DOOM Eternal was all about player engagement, and one of the reasons a traditional multiplayer mode was dropped in favor of the more unorthodox Battle Mode. The logic may seem odd, but he basically says that deathmatch can lead to frustration for players, making them unhappy and therefore less engaged.

“So if we come up on each other [in a Doom 2016 multiplayer match] and all the game is relying on from a design perspective is aiming and shooting, well there are going to be people who aim and shoot better than you and there’s pretty much nothing you can do about that. That made death a frustrating experience because it meant you were just better than me. In this game, I can overcome your incredible twitch skills with teamwork and strategy, which gives me a chance. Then it allows the game to have what 2016 had none of: metas. There’s some real depth to this experience.”

It’s an interesting line of thought, though doubtful one many hardcore players will agree with. But either way, DOOM Eternal will launch on November 22nd for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, Stadia, and PC.