Doom Developer Working On Unannounced FPS Game

Update: The job listing in question has since been removed. 

id Software is no new player in the industry, rather, it is an irreplaceable part of the video game industry’s history. id Software established history by releasing Doom and then Doom II, its landmark titles of not only the FPS genre but gaming as well. The Doom games are not id Software’s important contributions. It also developed the Wolfenstein and Quake franchises, which were also giants of their time and have recently enjoyed a resurgence thanks to id and MachineGames.

After releasing Doom (2016), id Software co-developed Rage 2 with Avalanche Studios, the developers of the Just Cause series, and Mad Max. Rage 2introduced an open-world setting and introduced other changes such as a different colour design, choosing the gender of the playable character, and the introduction of abilities and powers, among others.

Next came Doom: Eternal, which overcame all of its predecessor’s shortcomings and delivered an even stronger and tighter FPS experience. It received quite a lot of post-launch content, including a Horde Mode, master levels, and much more content. Since then, many Id Software fans have been left wondering what’s the next project at work within id Software.

We previously reported about a job listing on ZeniMax’s website that hinted at what the next game by id Software might be. Recently, we have come across a new listing for Senior Gameplay Programmer on the website which states that id Software is working on an unannounced video game project.

As the listing clearly indicates, the project is a new unannounced video game by id Software. One of the responsibilities stated for the Senior Gameplay Designer reads as:
“Collaborate on the implementation of new gameplay features: player and characters’ behaviors, combat and powers mechanics”. The key takeaways here are “player and characters’ behaviors”, and “combat and powers mechanics”.

This may imply variable reactions of characters’ behaviours, influenced by players’ actions, or some other behavioural effects in the game. Combat and powers mechanics can have several implications. If the project is indeed the next Doom title, this may mean that the Doom Slayer may have powers and abilities this time around. In Doom: Eternal, abilities came via the Pretor suit, and there were several that could be used. If the Doom Slayer does not have powers and abilities, then the Praetor suit will most likely have new abilities this time.

Powerups exist in Quake as well and if the next title is Quake, this would mean new powerups, however, Rage 2 introduced powers and abilities as well. The next entry in the Rage series will most likely have existing powers and abilities, if not new. This puts Rage right on the suspect list of being the next possible game by id Software.

Among the qualifications required is: “5+ years in the games industry or demonstrable work in a first-person shooter game.” This clears any doubt, if it existed in the first place, that the game is an FPS title. Moreover, the preferred skills section states, “Experience with any version of idTech”. idTech is id Software’s propriety game engine and had been used to develop most of its games. Doom and Quake games have also been developed using the same engine, with the latest iteration being idTech 7. Rage 2 was developed using Avalanche Studios’ APEX engine, although the first Rage title used the idTech engine, so unless the next Rage title is being built using the idTech engine, it is unlikely that the next title is a Rage game.

Since the game is unannounced, it may even be a completely new IP by id Software, as the job listing is very vague on the details so not much can be inferred. We can only hope that the next title will be as good as recent id Software games have been.