Rumors of a new Doom game are ramping up yet again after Bethesda seemingly filed a US trademark back in January titled IDKFA. Fans will recognize this as a commonly used cheat code in the series to gain mega armor protection, all weapons, all ammo, and all keys.
Last year, a release schedule accidently shared by Microsoft hinted at a project titled Doom: Year Zero, though nothing has been announced to date. The document also mentioned possible Ghostwire: Tokyo and Dishonored sequels, though last week’s shutdown of Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks means these are likely off the table.
The last entry in the Doom series, Doom Eternal, was released in 2020. Developed by id Software, the title marked the seventh game in the series, and was released for PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4, with a Nintendo Switch port coming in 2020 and PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S ports released in 2021. the game won Best PC Game and Best Action Game at the Game Critics Awards 2019.
Released in 1993, the original Doom is seen as one of the most influential games of all time. Over 20 million people are said to have played it within two years of its launch, and it has been dubbed by many as the ‘father’ of first-person shooters.
Tom Warren, Senior Editor at The Verge, implied last week that Microsoft was preparing to announce Doom-related news at next month’s June showcase event. This would be a serious boon for Xbox after the company’s recent questionable decisions, though it might be too little too late for many of Microsoft’s previous supporters.
