Doom 64 is coming to the Switch, Bethesda hints at other versions coming

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There's still room for hope.

(Image credit: Bethesda Softworks)

Update: The Doom 64 page at nintendo.com has some new screens showcasing the game's environments and a couple of new monsters, and they look good—still very obviously old-school Doom, but brighter, sharper, and more colorful. There's also an interesting tidbit down in the game details, where two developers are listed: id Software, and Nightdive Studios.

Id is the original creator of Doom, which you might already know. Nightdive has also made a name for itself in recent years by resurrecting old shooters like System Shock, Blood, and Turok. If it's involved in the project, I would say that the odds of a PC version (which I think were pretty good to start with) just got a whole lot better.

Yesterday, Doom 64—originally released in 1997 for the Nintendo 64—was rated by the Australian Classification Board. Today, it was announced! For the Nintendo Switch. Sorry.

"But wait," I hear you saying. "This is PC Gamer, not Nintendo Gamer. Why are you reporting on this?" The answer is, basically, that hope dies hard, and Bethesda is very specifically not saying that this Doom 64 will be exclusive to Nintendo, like the last one was. In fact, I'd go so far as to say it's suggesting exactly the opposite.

Also bear in mind that Doom 64 Aussie rating (it's still not listed by the ESRB or PEGI) says it's a multiplatform game, and that a PC-specific rating briefly blipped on the PEGI site in July. That's not a guarantee it'll come our way, but taken altogether I think there's good reason to be optimistic.

Doom 64 is coming to the Nintendo Switch on November 22. Today's full Nintendo Direct stream is below—the Doom 64 announcement begins at 16:55.

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Andy Chalk
Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.