At Xbox’s 25th anniversary celebration at its Fan Fest event in Seattle, id Software confirmed that it is working on a new game, wrapping up last year’s Doom: The Dark Ages with the release of the upcoming Slaughter Mode on November 16.
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma made the announcement on her X account, posting, “Few studios have shaped the first-person shooter genre as much as id Software. Slaughter Mode comes to DOOM: The Dark Ages | Revelations on November 16, and the team is already working on its next game.” id itself also posted, saying, “We’re incredibly excited about our next project, a new game from our teams in Texas and Frankfurt, with game direction once again by Hugo Martin. It’ll be some time before we’re ready to share more but we can’t wait for you to see what we’re working on.”
Whether that next project is more Doom, or perhaps id returning to its other big franchise, Quake, remains to be seen. Or it might be neither of those and could be something new entirely. Although it’s worth noting that id Software is under Xbox’s Bethesda arm, and Bethesda boss Jill Braff recently told its development teams that “we are shifting from a planning model primarily centered on what’s next for each independent studio to one that focuses on our strongest franchises and determining the content roadmap that best serves our players and Bethesda as a whole.” So perhaps Quake or a fourth Doom game are the more likely options?
That remains to be seen, but what the last decade has proven is that Martin and the id Software team are very good at what they do. Doom (2016) successfully rebooted a dormant franchise, while Doom Eternal stood on its shoulders, and then Doom: The Dark Ages brought the focus back to the ground. All three were excellent.
Doom: The Dark Ages’ Slaughter Mode, meanwhile, is an endless single-player mode that will be added as a free update for those who’ve purchased Doom: The Dark Ages – Revelations DLC, which we reviewed and loved.
Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s executive editor of previews and host of IGN’s weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, and a co-host of Next-Gen Console Watch. He’s a North Jersey guy, so it’s “Taylor ham,” not “pork roll.” Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.