Earlier this year, the DOOM and Quake co-creator John Romero, along with his studio Romero Games, made the shocking announcement online that its publisher (heavily implied to be Microsoft) had pulled the funding for its next project — a new first-person shooter from the industry legend.
This led to rumours circulating online in the subsequent days about the potential staffing situation at the studio and claims that the Galway-based developer had been forced to close its doors due to a lack of funding.
In a statement, published less than a week later, the developer sought to correct some of the misinformation in these reports, stating that the studio hadn't been shut down and offered some potentially good news, stating that it had been by "contacted by several publishers interested in helping bring the game across the finish line" and was currently evaluating these opportunities to rescue the project.
Since then, the company and Romero have understandably been rather quiet about how these talks have been progressing, but in a recent interview with GameReactor, has provided another update, stating the team is "still figuring out" what to do with the "big" project, but it has "a lot of companies that are interested and still working with [them] on it".
According to Romero, he seems to imply the outlook is positive, as they own the IP, the code, and everything about the game, and already have $50 million of investment behind the project, which another publisher could benefit from if they were to pick the project up. But, also, if worst comes to worst, and the project doesn't get picked, that would mean they still have $50 million worth of assets that they could use to make another thing — presumably something much smaller than the studio's initial plans.
Here's what Romero told GameReactor.EU:
"We're still figuring out what we're going to do with our big game. We own the IP, we own the code, we own everything about the game, right? So we have a lot of companies that are interested and still working with us on it, because when you develop a game for years and you put in, say, $50 million into a game, if you move and start working with somebody else, they get $50 million for free. So lots of people want to continue working on something, you know, and even if that doesn't happen, you have $50 million worth of assets that you can use to make another thing. So no matter what, you are shortcutting the end of your game, right? To be able to get your game done faster, you already have a lot there already."
Asked how much of the game was completed prior to the project being canned, Romero revealed to GameReactor that they were "about midway" through the project. This suggests it would likely need a big player to swoop in and fund the remainder of the project.
What do you think? Do you believe there's a chance of seeing Romero Games' project come to life? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.