Update: It turns out that we already reported on this a few weeks ago, albeit buried in the much larger news story of Doom Eternal’s delay. Still, actually know that you can get Doom 64 for free and on more platforms is nice, isn’t it?
The (un)original story is below for posterity. I did take the time to write it, after all…
Original Story: Bethesda have well and truly embraced the retro remaster in the run up to the release of Doom Eternal, dropping Doom, Doom II and Doom 3 onto modern platforms earlier this year and announcing a Switch remaster of the N64 classic Doom 64Â in a recent Nintendo Direct.
But plans change, and they’re changing for the better. Just like Doom Eternal, Doom 64 is being delayed… but it’s now going to be a pre-order bonus on all platforms. That’s right, Doom 64 will be out for PS4, Xbox One, Switch & PC on 20th March 2020.
Of course, there’s a caveat here for Switch owners, and that’s that Doom Eternal won’t actually be out on the handheld alongside the other platforms. When Doom Eternal was delayed, a part of the announcement was that the Switch version would simply appear at some later date. Thankfully, if you want to take advantage of the pre-order bonus, you still can and any pre-orders of Doom Eternal up until its eventual launch will also unlock Doom 64 from the 20th march.
Doom 64 originally graced the Nintendo 64 on 31st March, 1997, a bespoke entry in the series for Nintendo’s first 3D console. Set some time after Doom II, it tweaked and improved the series’ graphics for the console. Since then it’s been locked to the ageing N64 hardware, but that all changes with the Switch remaster.
Bethesda are on a bit of a retro trip in the run up to Doom Eternal’s release. At QuakeCon 2019, they announced and released Doom, Doom II and Doom 3 for PS4, Xbox One and Switch. At the time, they drew a lot of criticism for slapping an enforced Bethesda net login on the games, which could not be skipped. Shortly after this came to light with a fair bit of public pushback, Bethesda updated the games to remove the requirement.
Hold on a second… is that why Doom 64’s been delayed as well?
Source: press release
