Romero Games was founded in 2015. Image: Romero Games via AFP Relaxnews
Having announced an extremely long-awaited sequel to cult classic “Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines” in March, Paradox Interactive has now signed up John and Brenda Romero of “Doom” and “Wizardry 8” fame.
The project’s nature is being kept under wraps for now, but a Romero Games and Paradox Interactive collaboration will be revealed at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in June 2019.
The project will be a strategy game, per the developer and publisher pairing, something that Romero Games is not particularly well known for, but Paradox itself certainly is.
Those titles have ranged from historical simulations like the “Hearts of Iron”, “Crusader Kings” and “Europa Universalis” franchises to space civilization leadership quest “Stellaris”.
Also bearing the Paradox name are a host of partner studios’ creations, such as superlative city planner “Cities: Skylines”, offworld colonizer “Surviving Mars”, robo-tank skirmish arena “BattleTech” and August 2019’s “Age of Wonders: Planetfall”.
Of particular note, “Surviving Mars” recently became the foundation for Paradox Mods, a community-populated game modification library from which players can download various tweaks and alterations proposed and developed by other fans.
That may be of relevance, given the mod-friendly legacy of “Doom” and John Romero’s continued involvement in the scene, including a fifth level pack for “Ultimate Doom” that is now expected April 2019.
Brenda is perhaps best known for her design of role-playing franchise closer “Wizardry 8” and was also involved in strategy classic “Jagged Alliance 2”.
However, whether Romero Games’ Paradox offering will adopt the hell-bashing themes of John’s most famous works remains to be seen; indeed, the Romeros’ track record together suggests that it may not.
At their social gaming startup Loot Drop, the pair worked together on Facebook-based theme park strategy “Ravenwood Fair” and licensed military strategy “Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Commander”.
Romero Games, founded in 2015, has so far developed a mobile remake of 1990 “Mario”-style jump’n’run game “Dangerous Dave in the Deserted Pirate’s Hideout”, and driving action and food prep title “Gunman Taco Truck”; both were well received.
A Romero Games title, “Blackroom”, was proposed in 2016 and would have been part of the first-person shooter genre that John Romero is most famous for, but has not yet materialized.
The 2019 Electronic Entertainment Expo runs June 11 to 13, with keynotes from various publishers scheduled over the days beforehand.
A teaser website has been set up for the collaboration. CE/JB
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