Doom 4 has been in production for almost half a decade now, with not even a release date to show for it. According to its publisher Bethesda however, a "new version" of the game is currently still in development.
Bethesda marketing vice president Pete Hines revealed the news to Kotaku, where he confirmed that a previous version of the game had been scrapped, but the project as a whole was still moving forward.
"An earlier version of Doom 4 did not exhibit the quality and excitement that id and Bethesda intend to deliver and that Doom fans worldwide expect," Hines stated. "As a result, id refocused its efforts on a new version of Doom 4 that promises to meet the very high expectations everyone has for this game and this franchise. When we're ready to talk about the Doom 4 id is making, we will let folks know."
Kotaku's sources claim that the original Doom 4 was jokingly referred to as "Call of Doom" by those close to the production. This was in reference to the game's excessive use of scripted set pieces, similar to those found in Activision's series, and its overall borrowing of many modern shooter tropes.
A source close to the project said, " there were a lot of scripted set pieces. There was kind of the recognition that in order to be a big shooter these days, you have to have some amount of the big, bombastic movie experience that people get pulled through."
This version was reportedly cancelled in 2011 after id Software finished development on Rage. According to a separate source, Bethesda put a hold on plans for a Rage sequel after lackluster sales numbers, and assigned id Software to work exclusively on Doom 4. Apparently, one Bethesda executive told id that the Doom sequel would need to have the same sales numbers as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim to keep the studio afloat.
We last heard about the game at Quakecon 2012, when John Carmack simply stated that it will be "done when it's done." On the whole, it does not sound like the project is moving along very well.