Why is there no Deathmatch in Doom Eternal?

Doom Eternal is about to drop but Deathmatch is conspicuously absent from the multiplayer game mode. Instead, Bethesda has taken a new approach to the game with the new Battlemode. 

The original Doom back in 1993 was the first game to boast a multiplayer mode, which supported up to four players. This mode was called “Deathmatch” and was groundbreaking at the time.

The gameplay was fast and addictive, allowing players to fight each other remotely for the first time. Since then, deathmatch has been a staple of online shooters and has laid the foundation for just about everything FPS game mode you can imagine.

The 2016 reboot of Doom was a massively popular game, but unfortunately, the multiplayer modes were criticized due to a lack of game modes, features and a myriad of bugs.

Fans were disappointed that deathmatch and capture the flag modes weren’t available at launch. There was also no option to vote on maps very few custom settings. Many players faced connectivity problems and PC users had to deal with rampant cheating.

Bethesda’s global senior VP spoke to Shacknews to explain why deathmatch won’t be featuring in Doom Eternal. He explained that deathmatch in Doom 2016 didn’t fit with the rest of the game. 

"It felt really disconnected from the base game that everybody loved.” Going on to say, "Whether you're playing by yourself or with others, we want it to feel like you're all playing the same game." That's as opposed to, "I'm a badass demon slayer in single-player, but when I go over to multiplayer, there are no demons, and it's just deathmatch."

The new Battlemode is a 1v2 mode with one player as Doom Slayer and the other two playing as demons.

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Doomslayer is equipped with a full loadout of weapons and armour, while the players can choose between the different demon classes. The goal of the demons is to slay Doom Slayer once, while he has to try and kill both demons before either one spawns on a 20-second countdown. After each round players get perks to get upgrades like extra health or speed boosts.

From the looks of things, Bethesda has learned from their past mistakes and are trying to make the new mode as innovative and entertaining as possible. They obviously want to keep the gameplay similar to the single-player mode with players fighting demons instead of other space marines. Hopefully, it will have more success than their previous attempt.

Doom Eternal is scheduled for release on 20th March for PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, and Google Stadia.