“We Have A Lot Of Companies That Are Interested” – Doom Co-Creator Hasn’t Given Up On His Cancelled Xbox Shooter

Earlier this year, the LOSS And Earthquake Co-creator John Romero and his studio Romero Games made a shocking announcement online that his publisher (heavily implied to be Microsoft) had pulled funding from his next project – a new first-person shooter from the industry legend.

This led to rumors circulating online in the following days about the studio’s potential staff situation and claims that the Galway-based developer had been forced to close its doors due to a lack of funding.

In a statement released less than a week later, the developer sought to correct some misinformation contained in those reports, stating that the studio had not been shut down and offered potentially good news, stating that it had been “contacted by several publishers interested in helping the game cross the finish line” and that it was currently evaluating these opportunities to save the project.

Since then, the company and Romero have understandably been rather tight-lipped about how those discussions are progressing, but in a recent interview with GameReactor, provided another update, stating that the team is “still figuring out” what to do with the “big” project, but that it has “a lot of companies interested and still working with [them] on that.”

According to Romero, he seems to be hinting that the outlook is positive, as they own the intellectual property, code and everything related to the game, and already have $50 million in investment behind the project, which another publisher could benefit from if they take over the project. But also, if the worst were to happen and the project didn’t make the cut, that would mean they would still have $50 million in assets they could use to create something else — probably something much smaller than the studio’s initial plans.

Here’s what Romero told GameReactor.EU:

“We’re still figuring out what we’re going to do with our big game. We own the intellectual property, we own the code, we own everything about the game, right? So we have a lot of companies that are interested and still working with us on it, because when you develop a game for years and you invest, say, $50 million in a game, if you move and start working with someone else, it gets $50 million for free. So a lot of people want to keep working on something, you know, and even if that doesn’t happen, you have $50 million worth of assets that you can use to create something else, so no matter what, you shorten the end of your game, right?

When asked how much of the game was completed before the project was canned, Romero revealed to GameReactor that they were “about halfway” through the project. This suggests that it would likely need a major player to step in and fund the rest of the project.

What do you think? Do you think there is a chance of seeing the Romero Games project come to life? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.