Classic Doom Games Get New Official Episode and Major Update at Quakecon

What just happened? Nightdive Studios, MachineGames, and id Software kicked off another QuakeCon with a refresh of the classic first-person shooter. This year, the trio collaborated to bring performance improvements, new features, and additional content to the first two Doom games. The update is free to all owners of both titles on modern platforms.

Anyone who owns the original 1993 version of Doom or Doom II on digital PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, or PlayStation stores should check out id Software’s big update this week. The company has rewritten modern ports of these two iconic FPS games, adding new features and levels.

The two classic Doom games, as well as Master Levels of Doom II and Final Doom, have been removed from all storefronts and replaced with a single bundle titled “Doom + Doom II” that consolidates their content. This bundle will automatically appear in the libraries of users who own Doom or Doom II at no additional cost.

The $10 bundle includes the original two campaigns: TNT: Evilution, The Plutonia Experiment, Master Levels, the No Rest for the Living expansion (which debuted in 2010 with Doom 3: BFG Edition), John Romero’s Sigil episodes from 2019 and 2023, and a new episode titled Legacy of Rust. The new map pack, a collaboration between id Software, Nightdive Studios, and MachineGames, introduces new enemies and weapons.

Multiplayer has also been overhauled. The update adds cross-play for deathmatch and co-op modes for up to 16 players, eight-player split-screen support on Xbox and PC, and 25 new deathmatch maps.

A new in-game browser allows players to download community-created maps directly in-game. Additionally, the new port supports all Boom-compatible mods, giving users access to hundreds of maps created by the Doom modding community over the past two decades.

Bethesda previously released classic Unity-based Doom source ports, but the new update replaces them with the Kex Nightdive engine to improve performance. Current-gen consoles can now run the game at 4K resolution and 120 fps. Additionally, players can switch between the original MIDI soundtrack and a new IDKFA version by composer Andrew Hulshult, featuring new Doom II recordings.

New accessibility options include font selection, text-to-speech, speech-to-text chat, and high contrast mode. Additional translations mean that games can now be played in Mexican Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Polish, Russian, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese.

Additionally, Bethesda is celebrating QuakeCon by offering discounts on most of its titles across Steam, Epic, Switch, and Xbox.