The Doom games have received many re-releases over the years to more or less success, including a full reboot in the Spring of 2016. Most recently, 1993’s Doom, Doom II, and Doom 3 were rereleased by current series publisher Bethesda, which received a good deal of backlash in the process.
On July 26, Bethesda rereleased the aforementioned Doom titles on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and mobile devices. The games were released in tandem with QuakeCon, a game conference celebrating Doom developer id Software and its Quake series.
Bethesda seemed to have been set up for a small success with these re-releases, with Doom and Doom II priced at $4.99 and Doom 3 at $9.99. However, there is a snag. Players need to log into their Bethesda.net accounts before playing the game, rendering the game unplayable to those without accounts linked to Bethesda’s website. This did not go over well among gamers, who apparently were expecting something different.
Bethesda is controversial among gamers already, and they have made a definite mistake here. Whether it was intentional or not, Bethesda has given an odd requirement to Doom fans who just want to be able to play the decades-old titles on modern consoles. Gamers will likely forgive the issue, but they certainly won’t forget it.
Account login lockout
Following an immediate outcry, Bethesda sent out a tweet attempting to assure players that it was working on a fix for the issue, igniting a firestorm of responses.
Update on our new classic DOOM releases:
The BethesdaNet login requirement was included for the Slayers Club, to reward members for playing the classic DOOM games.
The login should be optional, and we are working on changing the requirement to optional now.
— Bethesda (@bethesda) July 27, 2019
According to Bethesda, the account log-in feature was intended to be “optional.” Nonetheless, gamers were not happy.
The damage is done
It was too late by the time Bethesda responded to the issue. Gamers took to Twitter to complain about the botched release of the classic games. One Twitter user said they were “smelling a cover up” by Bethesda. Considering that a message saying that a Bethesda.net account is required to play the games exists, it might be safe to say that the company was saving face.
If it was intended to be optional then why would it say “is required to play this title” im smelling a cover up
— Caden (@GOLDIEGONE) July 27, 2019
On the other hand, some defended the company, commenting on how many gamers will never be pleased. A cover-up or not, gamers can all agree that the issue needs to be fixed promptly.