After DOOM: The Dark Ages and November 16's Slaughter Mode, id Software Confirms Its Next Game Under Hugo Martin
As Xbox's 25th anniversary celebrations unfold during FanFest in Seattle, id Software has officially confirmed the next major chapter in its studio roadmap. Just days before delivering the final major content drop for DOOM: The Dark Ages, the veteran shooter powerhouse announced that development is underway on a brand-new game, once again led by game director Hugo Martin.
Richardson and Frankfurt Unite Behind Hugo Martin for the Post-Dark Ages Era
Having served as creative director on DOOM (2016) before stepping up as game director for both DOOM Eternal and DOOM: The Dark Ages, Hugo Martin remains the creative anchor of the studio founded in 1991. In an official statement shared by id Software, the team highlighted the joint effort across its US and European offices:
"We're incredibly excited about our next project, a new game from our teams in Texas and Frankfurt, with game direction once again by Hugo Martin. It'll be some time before we're ready to share more, but we can't wait for you to see what we're working on."
This close collaboration between the studio's headquarters in Richardson, Texas and its core engine specialists at id Software Frankfurt in Germany reflects the studio's restructured pipeline built around id Tech 8. Following Microsoft's sweeping mid-year layoffs in July, studio director Marty Stratton recently outlined Marty Stratton's technical partnership with MachineGames following the studio's 50% workforce reduction to keep development momentum intact. The confirmation also arrives just twenty-four hours after the launch of employee-owned studio Hidden Horses by 20 laid-off DOOM veterans, who are now crowdfunding their own old-school single-player FPS, Danger Pay.
For now, Bethesda Softworks and id Software are keeping the exact identity of the project under wraps. Whether the teams are crafting a direct follow-up in the Doom Slayer saga, a full single-player revival of Quake, or an original intellectual property for next-generation hardware, id Software emphasized that it will be quite some time before any trailer or gameplay is ready for public eyes.
Slaughter Mode Arrives November 16: 19 Arenas and All-or-Nothing Skull Gambling
Before shifting its entire focus to this next production, id Software is delivering a final send-off for DOOM: The Dark Ages and its acclaimed Revelations campaign expansion (which launched in July alongside the brutal Chain Spear weapon). Launching this Monday, November 16, 2026, Slaughter Mode will roll out as a free update for all owners of the Revelations DLC.
Built as a high-stakes endless survival gauntlet, Slaughter Mode drops a fully upgraded Slayer into a rotation of 19 randomized arenas drawn from both the base campaign and the frozen battlegrounds of Revelations. Progression revolves around a strict risk-and-reward loop:
- Skull Accumulation: Surviving escalating waves of randomized demons and boss encounters rewards players with Skulls.
- 10-Round Checkpoints: Every ten waves, a checkpoint forces a crucial decision: bank your accumulated Skulls and walk away safely, or push forward into the next arena for higher-tier rewards at the risk of losing everything if you die.
- Cosmetic Unlocks and the IDKFA Soundtrack: Banked Skulls unlock Slayer and weapon skins (including new finishes for the Chain Spear), victory poses, player badge frames, profile icons, and custom menu backgrounds. The update also adds the IDKFA metal soundtrack to the in-game jukebox for use across both the Ripatorium and Slaughter Mode.
My Field Notes
By confirming its next project during Xbox's 25th anniversary week, id Software is sending a deliberate message of stability to both its player base and prospective talent in Texas and Germany. After July's painful layoffs and the departure of several longtime veterans, keeping Hugo Martin at the helm is the strongest creative assurance the studio could offer. His obsession with combat cadence, readable aggression, and mechanical depth defined the modern trilogy; the real question now is whether Richardson will finally crack open the Quake vault once Slaughter Mode goes live on November 16.
Chayane's Take: What stands out about Slaughter Mode is that ten-round Skull banking mechanic. Instead of dropping a passive Horde mode to close out post-launch support, Hugo Martin's team injected an arcade extraction gamble into the loop. Post-launch modes like this often double as live sandboxes for mechanics that resurface in the studio's next full game.
DOOM: The Dark Ages
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Originally from Lyon, France, gaming journalist Bastien "Orion" relocated nearly a decade ago to Quebec City's Saint-Roch district, right in the heart of eastern Canada's development studio hub. Before crossing the Atlantic, he honed his versatile reporting style across classic French gaming web portals and specialist television outlets in the 2000s and 2010s, notably with JeuxVideo.fr and JeuxNews. Equally passionate about AAA blockbusters, North American studio culture, retro preservation, and community modding projects, he anchors Pro-Gamer's transatlantic desk and real-time coverage of US and Japanese industry announcements.
