John Romero, co-creator of Doom and Quake and co-founder of id Software, has shared that his unannounced shooter game has a new publisher, and some members of the original team have returned to the project.
Romero Games' project was canceled by its previous publisher, as reported earlier, and many assumed it was Xbox. Some employees claimed that the studio had been shut down and over 100 people were left unemployed. However, despite these claims, the studio hasn't been closed.
"Last year we basically got defunded, like a lot of people did," Romero told VGC during Gamescom Asia, "and so we had to spend time figuring out what we were going to do." The team tried to find funding to finish the game and keep everyone on, but "as time goes on and people leave you can't build that game again." Eventually, the studio went from 110 people to five.
Romero also said that the studio fully owns the game's name, IP, art, graphics, and code. He explained that he needed to design a new game that could reuse as much of this material as possible to get a head start.
The developer confirmed the game is a shooter, describing it as "a complete redesign of a totally different game" that drew on much of the work the team had done on previous projects. The team, now about 15 to 16 people, is working in Unreal Editor.
Romero had also spoken about the project last December, saying the new game was separate from the previous one but included many of its elements: 'We're not starting at ground zero."
