Developer id Software has revealed that the multiplayer component in its upcoming DOOM reboot isn’t specifically being designed with eSports in mind. The company’s main focus instead is entertaining “millions of people on their couches every day.” However, this doesn’t mean that competitive multiplayer isn’t an important part of DOOM, and id hasn’t ruled out the possibility of adding eSports features to the game in the future.
In an interview with GameSpot during QuakeCon 2015, executive producer Marty Stratton said:
We’re not developing [DOOM] specifically with how we address eSports. There’s tons of moments, even just watching the [multiplayer matches] at QuakeCon, where there’s very eSports moments in it. It really just illustrates how eSports can be born out of that. But we’re really [working on] how we entertain millions of people on their couches everyday. So that’s really been our focus.
We have a lot of experience with eSports on the Quake side. To do that stuff well, it takes some focus. And I can see us going down that path when it catches on with people. I think it’s a great title for it, and who knows down the road.
In a separate interview with GameSpot, Bethesda’s VP of Marketing Pete Hines discussed the challenges of rebooting the series, stating that id has to stay true to the series but at the same time, it has to compete against the likes of Call of Duty and Battlefield, which are far more recognized by players today.
id hasn’t made a game in the current pantheon of first-person shooters. It’s not a part of that conversation. You can go to any sixteen-year-old at QuakeCon and ask them what their favorite shooter is and they’re going to say Call of Duty and Battlefield and Halo, but not DOOM, because why would they? We haven’t put out DOOM games. So id has to deal with the challenge because we can’t walk in and say, ‘Hey, we’re making a DOOM game,’ and everyone’s instantly on board. id’s got to prove [itself] and prove how this is still true to DOOM and still relevant to first-person shooters.
Stratton chipped in by saying that id wants to respect what DOOM means to people and their fondness for it, but at the same time, it has to consider innovation and think about the future. “We let fun determine how decisions are made and what choices we make, not holding onto things from the past,” he said.
DOOM will be out in 2016 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. A multiplayer alpha test for the game will be arriving in the coming months.
