Romero Games recently posted on Twitter that the team is hiring for a new FPS. They’re looking for people of various fields and at various levels of experience. Their website further states that “it’s a new dawn” for their studio as they are 100% focused on first-person shooters, with this next title of theirs being a new original IP. They are working with a yet unnamed “major publisher” and will be using “state-of-the-art-technology,” that being Unreal Engine 5.
John Romero, best known for his work in the early Doom and Quake titles back in the 90s, opened up his own studio in Galway, Ireland known as Romero Games. However, since the studio’s inception in 2015, the team has done little in the field that Romero is most renowned for, that being first-person shooters. Though not the first of its kind, Doom is deemed by most to be the father of first-person shooters, as it ushered in one of the most popular genres in gaming today.
Only 3 games have been released by Romero Games, one an unofficial Doom mod, another a side-scrolling mobile game called Gunman Taco Truck, and most recently they released Empire of Sin in 2020, a prohibition-era-based tactical strategy game. Empire of Sin suffered through mixed reception, which perhaps puts into context the wording used on the team’s website when they stated things like “new dawn” and “100% focused on first-person-shooters.”
Indeed, this new title goes more in line with what the common expectation was from a studio formed by a Doom co-creator. Unreal Engine 5, the current gold standard for licensable game engines, along with the idea of a “major publisher” leads many to believe this could be an FPS with high production value behind it. However, though Romero’s storied history is undeniable, we’ve yet to see released projects from him in the modern FPS space.
The open positions on the website reveal some tiny bits of information about the game, though nothing major. An Online Architect position and a Senior Multiplayer Programmer position are wanted, so it’s safe to say the game will have a multiplayer component, however, a Lead Level Designer is wanted as well. The latter’s hiring page states, in part, that the candidate would lead their team “in a cohesive world design that supports the narrative…” which suggests a single-player campaign mode won’t be missing.
Given that the project just started hiring, and for such high-level positions, the game is most likely many years away so don’t expect more tangible news any time soon.
