DOOM Eternal Delay Was Due to Fallout 76's Poor Performance, Pete Hines Says

Published: June 25, 2020 3:57 PM /

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Doom Eternal Delay Fallout 76 cover

Demon-slaying FPS enthusiasts may have been disappointed with the months-long delay for DOOM Eternal last year, but Bethesda's Pete Hines says that there was a very good reason for it. It seems that the reception of Fallout 76 at launch caused them to rethink their strategy for upcoming games — and DOOM Eternal wasn't the only game that got held up.

Bethesda's Senior VP of Global Marketing and Communications Pete Hines recently went on US Gamer's podcast Branching Narratives. They discussed a fair few topics, but one of the more interesting points was the reasoning behind the delays of some pretty big products as reported on USgamer.

"I think [Fallout 76's poor reception at launch] certainly had an impact on how we evaluated Doom Eternal and [the Fallout 76: Wastelanders DLC] last year, and we said, 'These are not ready, and we're not going to make another mistake, and we're going to take the extra time even though that time hurts, and is painful, and you miss a holiday.'"

Doom Eternal Delay Fallout 76 slice

Was the DOOM Eternal and Wastelanders Delays Worth the Wait?

Having to wait a few weeks or even a few months to get your hands on a game always stinks, but the finished product is inevitably better when the developers have had enough time to work on it. Pete Hines certainly thinks so.

"Doom Eternal was so much better for it, and the response to [Fallout 76's Wastelanders DLC] was so much better for the extra time," he said.

While Fallout 76 didn't do so great at launchWastelanders managed to turn things around in the eyes of some people. DOOM Eternal, on the other hand, was much better received on its launch — probably because it's hard to screw up killing demons with rocket launchers set to killer metal tunes.

In the end, both games were probably better thanks to the extra time. If you haven't yet played either of them, you can pick up DOOM Eternal and Fallout 76 on Steam with a hefty 50% discount as part of the Steam Summer Sale 2020.

Do you think the delays for the newest DOOM game and Fallout 76's Wastelanders DLC was worth it? How do you think the games are today? Let us know in the comments below!

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More Info About This Game
Learn more about Doom Eternal
Game Page Doom Eternal
Developer
Id Software
Publisher
Bethesda Softworks
Release Date
March 20, 2020 (Calendar)
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