Doom Dev Talks Upcoming Plans for Deathmatch, Campaign, and Map Editor

Ever since Doom released earlier this year, developer id Software has been supporting it with frequent updates and content drops, such as the Unto the Evil DLC pack. At QuakeCon 2016, we were able to sit down with executive producer Marty Stratton and discuss what else the studio has planned for Doom in the coming months.

Stratton detailed some of the updates that id is working on, including the addition of a free-for-all deathmatch mode to the game. "It's very much free-for-all deathmatch," he told us. "It's what a lot of players have been requesting. All of our modes coming out of the gate were team modes, and there's been a lot of requests. We wanted to include it, and a lot of fans have requested it."

However, he did say that the studio hasn't decided whether or not to include the demon power-up in this new mode. "We've gone back and forth on the demon, so I can't actually confirm whether or not the demon is going to be part of deathmatch... There's a purity [to] the deathmatch experience that we kind of feel like we want to maintain. That may end up being a non-demon mode when it comes out."

When asked whether or not the developer would ever add custom parameters or match settings to games, Stratton detailed plans for a robust private match feature. "[Deathmatch will] just be a playlist, but around the same time we are planning to release private matches where players can set up their own match and invite players to those matches. We're still working out the exact level of customization we'll have in that.

"But I think we'll probably pick a direction initially when we release deathmatch, so when you play it through the playlist, it either does or does not have the demon. Then, gradually incorporate more of the customization into the private match functionality."

Although he didn't discuss any potential Doom single-player DLC, he did mention that an update is in the works to add a score attack mode to the campaign. This mode is coming soon, although Stratton couldn't say exactly when it would go live. "There are some campaign things that we have in the works," he stated. "One that'll be coming up relatively soon... is a way to continue to play the campaign in more of a time or score-attack type of mode. It's a very arcade-y feeling game as it is, and when you start to reinforce that through visual feedback and different mechanics in the game, it really becomes a totally different way to play. You get to apply all of the skill that you learned playing through the campaign in this new way of playing."

Finally, Stratton discussed Doom's map editor, Snapmap. Id Software has several improvements in the works, such as better aggregation and presentation of maps. "We want to do a much better job for people of aggregating that content, the best of that content, and surfacing it for them. Being able to quickly find it, find the best stuff, is something that I think you'll continue to see us push on, and make it easier to even do that. 'I want a PvP with PvE elements in it, how do I find that in the vastness of Snap Map?' That's really a big goal for us over the continued progression of the game."

Doom originally released back in May, and GameSpot gave it an 8/10. You can read our review here.

At QuakeCon, we were also able to talk to Bethesda's VP of marketing Pete Hines, and we learned a lot about some of the publisher's other properties. Hines talked about why Quake Champions is only coming to PC, the reasons why Prey 2 was cancelled, how Fallout Shelter came to be, and why Bethesda decided not to remaster Oblivion.