Mick Gordon, the Australian composer whose pulsing, metal-inflected scores powered Doom (2016) and Doom Eternal, says he would return to the franchise «within a heartbeat» if circumstances allowed, despite the public dispute that ended his collaboration with developer id Software.
Gordon made the comments during an interview with IGN at PAX Australia. Asked whether he might contribute to future Doom installments, he framed any return as conditional but sincere. «There are a lot of dominoes that would have to fall in a very specific way for that to occur,» he said. «If those dominoes ever fell in that way, I would. Of course. Within a heartbeat.»
He did not specify what those conditions would be, but the unresolved history between Gordon and id Software remains the obvious backdrop. In a lengthy 2022 post on Medium, Gordon accused the studio of failing to pay him for roughly half of his work on the Doom Eternal soundtrack and singled out executive producer Marty Stratton as a recurringly abusive presence during the project. The dispute became one of the most closely followed stories in game development that year.
Even so, Gordon made clear that his affection for Doom itself has not faded. «I had a whole list of ideas where I wanted to go with Doom,» he said. «And I'd love to explore that one day, for sure.» That phrasing suggests his interest is not merely nostalgic but creative, built on unused musical directions he had mapped out for the series.
Any future Doom project would arrive in a changed production landscape. id Software was among the studios affected by Microsoft's ongoing cuts to its Xbox business, with 136 staff members at the Doom developer laid off in July. Lead services programmer Chris Hays described the impact bluntly at the time, saying it is «hard to make a game that is AAA, that's like we've done before, with half the people. And by hard, I mean impossible.»
Gordon, meanwhile, has stayed busy across several projects. He contributed the theme music for the final boss fight in Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun 2, scheduled for release on October 14. He is also producing the full soundtrack for Defect, a squad-based cyberpunk shooter being developed by veterans of both Doom and the Call of Duty series.
His connection to Doom will also return to the stage in 2027, when he headlines the UK's RADAR music festival. According to the announcement, he will perform the music he composed for Doom and Doom Eternal with a full live band for the first time. The performance offers fans a chance to hear the scores in a concert setting even as the question of his studio involvement with the franchise remains open.
For now, Gordon's position is one of conditional openness rather than a confirmed reunion. The «dominoes» he described would likely involve resolving or setting aside the disputes that followed Doom Eternal, as well as aligning with whatever direction id Software takes next. Neither Gordon nor the studio has announced any new Doom project or soundtrack collaboration.
What is clear is that the composer's enthusiasm for the material has outlasted the conflict. His comments at PAX Australia leave the door ajar, and his planned 2027 live performances will keep his Doom work in front of audiences in the meantime.