John Romero first announced the DOOM mod/expansion Sigil following the 25th Anniversary of the original 1993 release DOOM last December. According to the announcement, the megawad file will feature nine single-player levels and nine multiplayer maps. The physical edition is being handled by Limited Run Games, with two versions of the mod bundled into what they called fan boxes.
In February, Romero announced that the release would be delayed until April. In April he announced another delay until May, due to issues in production with the Beast Box edition, which includes a replica of Romero's head on a pike, the Easter egg found in Doom II map "Icon of Sin," as well as the coin featuring the Baphomet picture that features in SIGIL's theme art.
On Saturday, John Romero announced another delay on a Twitter thread as the same production issues continue:
Update on SIGIL: SIGIL has been done for quite a while at this point. There were two production issues at Limited Run -- the head and the disk. The head is now heading through production.The "free version" refers to the megawad file, which will still require a registered copy of the original 1993 DOOM to play, but will be entirely free to download otherwise. Romero had a streaming preview of SIGIL on Twitch back in December (now available on YouTube).All units are crafted and finished by an individual artist. The second is the disk which is expected in shortly. There was *also* an issue with that.
These are beyond the control of Romero Games, and we desperately wish that we could release it right now. We regret the delay, and have expressed your frustration to Limited Run.
We have also asked them to regularly update people who have purchased the game as this is also beyond the control of Romero Games. They have that list.
We’re sorry. We want SIGIL in your hands more than you know. We have to wait until Beast Box players get it before we release the free version.
For their part, Limited Run isn’t happy with the delays either, and looks forward to releasing the game.
The Limited Run team has been doing everything it can to resolve the delays and are as frustrated as we are. We all want the game in our hands.
The delays are due to making these items higher quality, because we and Limited Run believe you deserve the best possible product. They could have accepted earlier revisions and shipped an inferior product, but we both believe that you deserve better.
Limited Run will be in contact with an email update soon - until then, thanks for your patience!
Recently, Romero Games, the studio founded by John Romero and Brenda Romero also announced they will develop a new strategy IP to be published under Paradox Interactive. It's been a busy period for the id Software veteran, with the SIGIL mod and whatever this strategy IP might be. The delay is unfortunate, but out of his hands, as the manufacturing of game-related merch usually is. However, this is the third delay, and fans are unsatisfied, even with the explanation that the manufacturing company is doing their best to finalize production. We'll keep updating this story until the final release, hoping that soon fans will be able to enjoy the fast-paced classic DOOM action with brand new levels and plenty of deathmatches.
Did you order one of the SIGIL fan boxes? Are you fine with waiting for the release of the megawad until production is finished? Let us know in the comments below!