Raven Software is reportedly working on their classic IP.
As shared on Reddit by user OkEconomy2800, A former Raven employee let the cat out of the bag on his Linkedin. Michael Gummelt, who was a lead designer at Raven Software, had this listed as part of his work credit on his LinkedIn:
“Lead developer on a very small incubation team on two highly playable, well-developed prototypes as proof of concept for a revival of a classic Raven IP.”
So, this rumor is entirely dependent on whether you believe Gummelt’s job listing or not. While some fans are naturally skeptical about people who just want to get fifteen minutes of fame, in general, the industry actually uses LinkedIn in their headhunting and job search operations.
That means people in the industry are incentivized to share as much of their work experience as possible. And that means including the things they worked on that ended up not being successful, that turned out to be forgettable, even stuff that never got officially released or even revealed in any way.
The other side of this rumor, of course, is the clear wish fulfillment. Before Raven Software became famous for getting enlisted to Call of Duty, they were known for having made the games Hexen and Heretic.
Former Xbox head, who has now been promoted all the way up being the man in charge of Microsoft Gaming, Phil Spencer, is well known for being a fan of Hexen. While he has tried to quell rumors, many fans have been waiting for when Microsoft would finally get around to making this game in some way. So doesn’t that mean we’re definitely getting a new game in this series now?
But we should remember that Michael’s LinkedIn entry did not mention the game at all. And you may have forgotten all about this, but Raven Software was really prolific all the way to the 2000s.
Raven got to make both Star Trek and Star Wars licensed shooters. They created one IP on their own, Soldier of Fortune, and also worked on Quake 4, and 2009’s Wolfenstein. Of course, as dumb as it seems, this could all simply be referring to another Call of Duty title after all.
In any case, in the era of nostalgic boomer shooters, and reinventions of such shooters as seen in the likes of Doom Eternal, it would be genuinely interesting what a game like Heretic and Hexen would look like today.
