Doom Composer: I Will Return to This Series Without Hesitation
Mick Gordon, the legendary Australian composer whose music for Doom (2016) and Doom Eternal (2020) injected pure adrenaline into every action moment, told IGN that he
Mick Gordon, the legendary Australian composer who injected pure adrenaline into every action moment of the game with his music in Doom (2016) and its sequel Doom Eternal (2020), told IGN that he welcomes the idea of participating in future editions of this iconic shooter series from id Software.
During an interview at PAX Australia last weekend, Gordon seemed to hint that despite the public spat between him and the Doom Eternal development team following the game's launch, his connection to the Doom franchise hasn't necessarily been cut off forever.
There are many dominoes that have to fall in a very specific way for this to happen. If one day these dominoes fall like that, I will be back. Of course. without any delay.
Gordon didn't explain exactly what these dominoes mean, but it's possible that differences between the composer and Doom Eternal executive producer Marty Stratton have yet to be fully resolved. In a lengthy post on Medium in 2022, Gordon accused id Software of not paying him half of his work on the Doom Eternal soundtrack. He also specifically accused Stratton of engaging in repeated abusive and harassing behavior while working on the game's soundtrack. However, it's clear that these bitter experiences haven't dampened Gordon's love for the Doom franchise itself.
I had a whole list of ideas in my head for the direction I wanted to take with Doom; And I would definitely like to explore them one day.
What the future of the Doom series will look like with or without Gordon is another story. id Software was one of several studios heavily impacted by Microsoft's ongoing retrenchment in the Xbox division; So that in July, 136 employees of this Doom maker studio were fired. At the time, Chris Hayes, Senior Programmer for Services, was quoted as saying:
It is difficult to make a AAA game at the level of the works we have made before, even with half the workforce; And by hard, I mean impossible.
In the meantime, Gordon has kept himself busy with various projects. He composed the music for the final boss fight in Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2, which is scheduled to be released on October 14. He is also still actively producing the full soundtrack for Defect; A team-based cyberpunk shooter from the veteran developers of the Doom and Call of Duty series. In addition, he is set to return to the world of Doom in 2027, at least in the form of a live performance; where, as the headline artist at RADAR Music Festival in the UK, he will perform the scores composed for Doom and Doom Eternal with a live band on stage for the first time.