Today, developer id Software announced that Doom Eternal has been delayed into 2020. The sequel to 2016's Doom reboot of the legendary shooter franchise was originally scheduled for a November 22 release on PC, Stadia, and consoles, but now, the new release date is March 20, 2020.
For many, Doom Eternal was one of most anticipated games of fall 2019. The game appears to be expanding upon the core 2016 Doom in many exciting ways, adding new weapons, new abilities, new enemies, new game modes, and traversal elements that jack up the pace of play to ludicrous speeds. Now, it looks like fans will have to wait an additional four months to play Doom Eternal while the team at id ensures the game is up to the standards they set with the last game.
A tweet sent out this morning by id Software to the official Doom account detailed the reasons for the delay and also gave some new information regarding features, versions, and the franchise as a whole. They wrote "for Doom Eternal to live up to our standards of speed and polish - we've made the decision to extend our launch date by a few months to March 20, 2020. We know many fans will be disappointed by this delay, but we are confident that Doom Eternal will deliver a gaming experience that is worth the wait."
There was more new information included with the note as well. For starters, the new Invasion Mode that was announced last year will be released as free DLC shortly after the game's launch. This mode allows players to invade other player's games as a demon in an experimental competitive experience. The Switch version of Doom Eternal was also officially delayed further out than March, with the tweet saying id will "announce that date in the future."
Speaking of the Switch, the Switch port of Doom 64 is no longer exclusive to the Nintendo console. The N64 gem is coming to PC, PS4, and Xbox One and will be added as a free pre-order bonus for Doom Eternal and will be released on the same day.
The 2016 reboot was one of the best Doom games in the long history of the franchise that stretches back to the early '90s. It broke free from development hell as Doom 4 to become one of the finest shooters of the decade. If Doom Eternal needs more time before it lives up to the high expectations then it's always better to wait than to be disappointed in a rushed sequel.
Doom Eternal launches on March 20, 2020 for PC, PS4, Stadia and Xbox One with a Switch version coming sometime after the other platforms.
Source: id Software