Romero Games has announced that a new John Romero FPS is in the works. The game will be built on Unreal Engine 5 (not Id Tech, as you might expect) and will be released in conjunction with "a major publisher", although we don't know who that is yet.
What do we know about the new John Romero FPS?
Earlier today, John Romero tweeted that his studio, Romero Games, is looking for new hires in order to help make a brand new FPS. Romero's latest project is an all-new shooter, so if you were hoping for a Daikatana remake, you're out of luck, it seems. It also revolves around a brand new IP, so it's not going to be a spinoff shooter set in the Empire of Sin universe. Looks like John Romero is about to make you his...erm...thrall all over again.
Right now, there are a fair few jobs up for grabs on the official John Romero website. They include senior multiplayer and graphics programmers, a lead level designer, and technical artists and animators. Romero also says that more jobs will be added soon, so if you don't see your area of expertise on the list, you might want to keep an eye out. It's worth noting, too, that this new Romero shooter isn't Sigil 2, which was announced back in August last year. That game will be using the Doom 2 engine, but the new project is an Unreal Engine 5 game. More details will likely be made available for Romero's new game as time goes on, so we'll have to wait and see what he has up his sleeve.
Who is John Romero?
If you're a first-person shooter aficionado, you've almost certainly heard John Romero's name. He was one of the four original founders of legendary shooter developer Id Software, who went on to create classics like Doom, Quake, and Wolfenstein 3D, among many others. Romero's last project with Id was Quake, after which he left to form Ion Storm alongside fellow original Id founder Tom Hall. While Hall worked on his project Anachronox, Romero created a new shooter called Daikatana, which is widely regarded as a catastrophic misfire that tanked Romero's reputation for many years in the industry subsequent to its release due in large part to its marketing.
Romero didn't vanish during the post-Daikatana years, of course. He stuck around to contribute work to games like Anachronox and Area 51, and when the 25th anniversary of Doom rolled around in 2018, he announced Sigil, a "megawad" (read: huge level pack) full of new levels built on the original game's engine. A sequel to Sigil is now in development, and with Romero's new project officially announced as well, it seems one of the most iconic rockstar developers is officially back in the shooter landscape. Here's hoping that Romero's new game turns out a little better than his "magnum opus".
