Doom Eternal‘s Invasion mode is never going to happen. Players began to suspect as much when over a year passed from the game’s launch without the promised mode’s arrival, but it’s now official. Remote working during the pandemic slowed Invasion mode’s development, and now the folks at id are pouring their resources into horde mode for solo players instead.
The devs have “seen and heard how many of you enjoy the range of gameplay and combat available in the expansions and master levels,” executive producer Marty Stratton says in the announcement. “With these factors in mind, we have decided to redirect our focus from Invasion mode to creating a totally new single-player horde mode. We’re confident this horde mode will offer you more of the diversity and challenge you’re looking for in the game.”
The team is also working on a revamp for Battle mode that will feature a “more competitive, rank-based structure, a number of gameplay and balance updates and another new map”. More info will land at this year’s digital QuakeCon, which kicks off on August 19, 2021.
Doom Eternal’s Invasion mode would’ve let players invade your campaign playthrough, taking control of the demons to give you a more challenging PvP experience in the middle of your solo play – a bit like the player invasions in the Dark Souls games. It’s disappointing that the mode will now never see the light of day, but I doubt many Doom fans will be upset about more single-player content.
Doom Eternal just got a major update that adds ray tracing, and it looks like id isn’t done yet. The kings of FPS games still reign.