Doom Eternal Doesn't Include Deathmatch Because It Doesn't Feel Like Doom Anymore

Doom Eternal, which releases on March 20, will not have a traditional deathmatch mode, and is instead shipping with its own unique twist on multiplayer: Battlemode. Deathmatch was the most maligned part of Doom 2016, but since the original 1993 Doom essentially created the mode, some might wonder why the latest game in the series (read our Doom Eternal review) would abandon it.

Now, in an interview with Shacknews, Bethesda VP of public relations Pete Hines has explained why Doom Eternal has done away with deathmatch. Hines gave a decisive answer when asked if he was "concerned" about the mode not being in the game: "No. That mode is eons old."

Hines recalls how deathmatch in Doom 2016 was handled by another studio, and ultimately did not fit with the tone of the game. "[It] felt really disconnected from the base game that everybody loved. That was a big thing that Marty and Hugo talked about: 'Whether you're playing by yourself or with others, we want it to feel like you're all playing the same game.' That's as opposed to, 'I'm a badass demon slayer in single-player, but when I go over to multiplayer, there are no demons, and it's just deathmatch.'

"I don't know what that has to do with [Doom] other than that, well, a couple of decades ago we had that, so we should just have that again," he says.

Hines believes that Battle Mode is a much better fit for what Doom has become. "For the Doom Slayer, it's the same experience you know [from the campaign] with the added complexity of playing against humans who are controlling the arena and adding to the challenges you have," he says. "There's still an AI element, obviously, but what a player can come up with and throw at you can be far more interesting."

If you're wondering whether you'll be able to experience Doom Eternal on your PC, here are the minimum and recommended specs. Doom Eternal will release at a later date on Switch.