Bethesda confirms that it will be removing the Bethesda.net login requirement for the classic Doom games that have been released on Nintendo Switch. Fans were excited when the classic Doom titles were stealth released on the platform but Bethesda was quickly mocked and many memes were made when players found that they'd have to login or make a Bethesda account to play them.
After the three classic Doom games were released, players found that they'd have to login to their Bethesda.net account every time they wanted to play. Doom 1 and Doom 2 required logins just to play the games, while Doom 3 showed the login screen but players were able to skip it. Bethesda now says that this account login was shown to players in error.
"The BethesdaNet login requirement was included for the Slayers Club, to reward members for playing the classic DOOM games," wrote the company in a Twitter update. Bethesda also said that the login option "should be optional" and that it is "working on changing the requirement to optional now." The company also said that it would "update everyone when a fix is ready" but two days later, Bethesda and the Bethesda Support Twitter accounts have not publicly tweeted about a fix.
Many fans will be glad to see this fixed, as Bethesda was mercilessly ridiculed for the Bethesda.net login decision. Fans were extremely confused as to why the login would be put in the game as, unlike the upcoming game Doom Eternal, the three classic Doom games don't have any online modes.
Some had also suggested that this was another way for Bethesda to get people to create Bethesda accounts and use its launcher. Bethesda is one of several video game publishers to have released their own launchers, like Epic Games and its Epic Games Store. If players have Bethesda.net accounts, it would be much easier to sell them on Bethesda games.
Not everyone is satisfied with Bethesda's explanation, as the Nintendo eShop pages for Doom 1 and Doom 2 did say that a Bethesda.net account was required to play. This would suggest that the login screen was put in the classic Doom games on purpose and wasn't an error stemming from rewards for Slayers Club members. Whatever the real reason, things will hopefully be sorted out soon so that everyone can play as Doomguy, with or without a Bethesda account.
Source: NintendoLife, Twitter - Bethesda