A job listing on ZeniMax Media's career site possibly indicates that Bethesda and id Software could be looking to hire developers for work on a new Quake game.
With Bethesda's and id Software's reboot of DOOM having recently released to overwhelming critical acclaim and adoration from fans, it seems as if the studios might have the urge to revive yet another classic first-person shooter franchise by putting out a fresh Quake title. According to a series of job listings on Bethesda's and id Software's parent company ZeniMax Media's career website, the companies are currently scouring for game programmers to "work as a part of a development team on legendary id game properties like DOOM and QUAKE.”
While the various posts don't explicitly state that the studios want developers for a new Quake, each of the listings' wordings do suggest it as a possibility. After all, the timing may be just right, as 2016 will mark exactly 20 years for the Quake franchise. Plus, since many consider celebrating gaming anniversaries to be important, Bethesda has previously announced it will be holding multiple tournaments featuring older arena shooter games at its annual Quakecon.
However, it's also entirely plausible that the companies could be working on another Wolfenstein game or a follow-up to 2011's RAGE, since they too are a part of id Software's "legendary" stable of IPs. Of course, as seen below, the actual details for the spots in Frankfurt, Germany aren't incredibly illuminating in terms of what project could be in the pipeline. The responsibilities for the senior tools and physics programmers positions, as well as the open engine and audio programmer roles seem to be pretty standard fare, and don't necessarily indicate anything beyond the prospective hires' qualifications.
Although there's not much to go on, it wouldn't be too bizarre to find out that a new Quake is a part of Bethesda's director and executive producer Todd Howard's previously announced plans of three "big and crazy" projects to come from the company in the near future. With E3 2016 just around the corner, it's feasible for Bethesda and id Software to at the very least hint or tease at a fresh Quake title in the works, but considering the fact that the positions on ZeniMax's page were just recently listed, the chances of such a thing happening are kind of slim.
In any event, revitalizing older franchises and updating them with modern sensibilities seems to be all the rage these days. From the recent DOOM reboot to the calls for a contemporary Crash Bandicoot, the idea of renovated version of Quake coming to pass has the potential to send gaming fans into a frenzy.
Would you like to see a brand new Quake game from Bethesda and id Software? Do you believe the time is right, or should developers hold off on rejuvenating the series? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Bethesda's and id Software's most recent release is DOOM, which is available now for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Source: ZeniMax Careers (via Kotaku AU)