Id Software fans are speculating about what appears to be a new project in development following the discovery of an Australian Classification Board listing for something called Project 2021B. The game, which is rated M for violence and online interactivity, is a multiplatform "computer game" being developed by id and set to be published by ZeniMax Europe.
If the odd title rings a bell, you may be thinking of Project 2021A, another id Software development discovered in January—also through the Classification Board website—that's being published by Bethesda. There are several differences, though. Project 2021A is rated R18+ for "high impact violence," and its media type is virtual reality, leading sites like TechRadar to predict that a Doom Eternal VR game is in development.
2021B, on the other hand, appears to be a conventional videogame, and its rating comes in a lot lower than either Doom (the 2016 version) or Doom Eternal, both of which were rated R18+ for high impact violence, and blood and gore. That's two full tiers higher than 2021B's M rating. (M and R18+ are separated by the MA15+ rating, which is given to games with "strong violence.")
It's possible that there's a direct connection between the two projects: The former could be a completely standalone Doom VR game unrelated to Eternal, and the latter a non-VR version of the same thing. Some Resetera users are guessing that it's nothing to do with Doom at all, but is in fact a Quake remaster or collection for next-gen consoles. The 25th anniversary of Quake 2 is coming next year, after all.
Whatever's going on, Bethesda is staying mum for now: A studio rep declined to comment on the rating. We'll let you know if we hear more.
