At this time ZeniMax and Bethesda studio id Software is known for its best DOOM games – including both classic titles and modern installments of DOOM 2016, DOOM Foreverand DOOM: Dark Ages — it has explored other properties and ideas in the past and is reportedly “toying” with doing so again.
…That’s it the developer was criticized by the cuts It came as part of this week Bigger ‘reset’ for Xbox and its first-party teams This saw 3,200 roles cut and four studios removed from Microsoft’s Xbox Game Studios portfolio.
Initial reports suggested that half of the id Program had been vacated Microsoft and Xboxwith some follow-up digging indicates that the situation is even worseIt is reported that 40 remote workers have also been dismissed.
Described as a “bloodbath” by one former developer, the cuts made it very unlikely that id’s ideas would ever be developed for projects outside of DOOM (especially Xbox directs ZeniMax/Bethesda to focus on core IPs). New report from GamesBeatalthough it does give some idea of what these concepts are.
In addition to DOOM, which focused on co-op multiplayer, the studio was also considering Fury, a game heavily inspired by the John Wick films, a new entry in the Perfect Dark series, and a Western game focused on robot survival called Ironwood.
Fury was a new original property described by id Software studio co-director and game director Hugo Martin as having “sci-fi, noir, Louisiana and Chicago gangster elements” and a “modern, cyberpunk feel”. Notably, it featured a “Gun Fu” gameplay style that combined martial arts with martial arts, and was designed to feel like a playable John Wick movie. It never got the green light.
According to the claim, id was also exploring the possibility of developing a Perfect Dark game. The Perfect Darkness reboot of The Initiative was canceled last year When Microsoft and Xbox closed the studio; With no one else working on a new installment of the 2000s stealth-action shooter series, id was considering doing so, and reportedly even produced concept art.
Finally, there’s Ironwood. Little is known about it other than that it will be set in a Western setting with robots and survival gameplay, although it is said to be very similar to the popular HBO TV show Westworld.
Apparently, there were no plans for a new Quake, another popular shooter series created in the 90s, and there still aren’t any.
Personally, I think the concept of Fury sounds incredibly cool, and I’d love to see the full id Software team develop a Perfect Darkness game. With more than half of the studio gone now, the chances of anything but a DOOM title being made seem slim.
Perhaps one day, in a few years, id be able to explore some of these concepts further. While Xbox CEO Asha Sharma aims to “move faster” with the biggest franchise, I doubt that will happen anytime soon.
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