John Romero, the co-creator of demon-slaying series Doom, is working on a new FPS game built in Unreal Engine 5.
Although the classic series was rebooted several years ago with Doom and Doom Eternal, John Romero didn’t contribute to the revival. His most recent release was 2020’s mafia strategy game Empire of Sin, but he’s going back to the FPS genre for his next outing.
Romero announced the as-yet-unnamed title in a tweet, advertising several job postings for the game. Details are sparse, although the tweet mentions Romero Studios is working with a major publisher to develop the game that will be based on an original IP. The online architect job posting also mentions the game will support multiplayer for PC and console, as well as “live-ops functionality”.
Graphics to melt your eyes
The job listings reveal the game will be built using Unreal Engine 5, Epic’s latest top-of-the-line game-making kit. Several eye-popping fan-made projects have already been released using the engine, including a reimagining of Skyrim and a recreation of Cyberpunk 2077.
Those amateur projects demonstrate the sheer graphical fidelity that Unreal Engine 5 is capable of capturing, but don’t expect Romero’s next project to be quite as visually brilliant. As a full game rather than a demo, it will contain a game’s worth of assets, each of which needs to be meticulously modeled and detailed. But it certainly has the potential to dazzle us using Epic’s next-generation technology, which is yet to be showcased through a full triple-A release.
Just what the game's live-ops components will be is still up in the air. Many contemporary titles follow a seasonal content model, rolling out substantial updates every few months. They could also span a monetization system in the form of a battle pass – a staple of modern multiplayer shooters. But, really, live-ops functionality could refer to any structure designed to regularly deliver new features, events, updates, and improvements to the game.
Elsewhere, the Romero Games website says it's “way too early to share any other information”. Judging by the number of senior positions the studio is currently hiring for, it certainly looks as if the game is in its early stages of development. Don’t be expecting it to arrive anytime soon.
Not that Romero is muting our expectations. It's described as a “high-profile title that will be played by millions of gamers worldwide”. A bold claim for something that doesn’t yet have a public face.
