Q&A: June 18th, 2025

Kelvin Kuang Asks
Recalling back to your previous Randomly Mine post, Doomed For Eternal, do you think TDA is the straw that broke the camel back given the reception is kind of what you predicted it would turn out to be? And will it have the same turn around that Doom 3, for all of it's brilliance and flaws, be discussed in retrospect? And would we see the future possibility (though very unlikely case for now me thinks) of Quake making a return?

Answering in reverse, I don't expect Quake to receive the sort of Reboot treatment that DOOM got. Quake is sort of like the younger brother that peaked in High School. It paved the way for gaming's future through its technology and online framework, but ultimately, DOOM has now stood as ID's definitive IP in three different decades.

And importantly to publishers, it's made big money in all of them.

Quake meanwhile had an incredible hat-trick of innovation that ultimately couldn't be sustained, and while there's always been a group of hardcore fans (and weird casuals like me) that love it, you need more than us to convince Bethesda to make it their primary FPS contender.

I have no doubt that there will be a turn around similar to DOOM 3, as just like DOOM 3, despite the intense debate and discussions had on forums within the community, the game itself is rock solid, and the majority of reviews from critics and customers are positive.

Most of the negative reviews I've seen on Steam even preface that they don't think the game is bad, just that it's not to their taste. I honestly hesitate to even call it a turn around, the same way I hesitate to call DOOM 3 a turnaround.

I've joked on Twitter before that DOOM's infamous discourse might just be a consequence of all the games being good and not having a Pro Skater 5 or a Sonic '06 everybody can point and laugh at.

Now is The Dark Ages the last time they can do this? ...Perhaps this is my own lack of imagination, but I just don't see what other design avenue DOOM could go down that'd be as original as each installment of this Reboot trilogy has been.

Were a new game to be made, I don't know how it wouldn't be one that for lack of a better phrase "picks a lane." And obviously, that has the problem of needing to outdo in quality what are generally considered some of the best FPS' in the last ten years.

Unless they bring things full circle and make their "Call of Doom" project...

That'd be horrible... but also kinda funny. And could finally give the DOOM franchise it's long overdue Sonic '06 black sheep of the family.

All jokes aside, I think the best option for ID is to give DOOM a rest. When you think about it, the brand hasn't been this repeated since the 90's, and even then... most of DOOM I&II's repetition came from it being ported to every platform in existence.

Before '16, the gap between DOOM II and DOOM 3 was ten years; ID have since made three main-line DOOM games in that same timeframe, in the midst of a Boomer Shooter renaissance, where there hasn't been this many people iterating and innovating in the sub-genre since DOOM I&II.

I don't think it needs a decade break... just a break.

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