New DOOM Game Rumors Grow Stronger After Update at Bethesda

Bethesda is preparing for a new DOOM announcement.

It continues to look like Bethesda is laying the groundwork to reveal a new game in the DOOM franchise relatively soon. This past week, word of a new DOOM entry first began gaining traction when the franchise was seemingly teased to have a new announcement at June's Xbox Games Showcase. Now, Bethesda itself has given further credence to this speculation by registering a trademark that very much looks to be tied to DOOM. 

Recently, it was discovered that Bethesda submitted a trademark for the term "IDKFA" earlier in 2024. At the time of this writing, the trademark hasn't been approved, but it is known to be tied to a video game of some sort. As for how IDKFA is related to DOOM in the first place, this term is known for being a cheat code that works with the original DOOM and DOOM 2. With this in mind, it's very likely that this trademark is somehow related to the next game in the DOOM series. 

Currently, it's been a little more than four years since DOOM Eternal was released. Since that time, developer id Software went on to make multiple pieces of DLC for Eternal, but the studio has been quiet following their release. Given the four-year gap between DOOM (2016) and DOOM Eternal, it's pretty likely that id Software is well into development on its next project and could finally be ready to show it to fans at the Xbox Showcase. 

Elsewhere this week, reporter Jeff Grubb gave a brief update on what he thinks will be announced during the Xbox event. Grubb said he expects id Software to unveil its next game during the broadcast, which he anticipates will either be associated with DOOM or Quake. Although he stressed that he's not certain about what will happen, Grubb said that he leans toward id's next title being associated with DOOM once again. No matter what the truth might hold, we won't have much longer left to learn more as Xbox's Showcase is set to take place on Sunday, June 9.

[H/T GB]