Id's next game based on new IP

Id Software's next game will shape entirely new intellectual property for the software firm, CEO Todd Hollenshead has told Reuters, and development could begin just days after the completion of Doom 3.

Id's John Carmack has previously spoken of his hopes for the developer's next project during his GDC presentation in San Jose earlier this year. "We're hoping that our next title will be able to reuse at least some of Doom's assets," he said at the time.

"It's going to be some near-future [game]. A present day of near-future thing where we can reuse the fire extinguishers, the waste baskets and some of the things like that in [Doom 3]," he added.

The promise of recycled fire extinguishers, a near-future setting and new intellectual property is unlikely to get anybody excited at this stage, but it's good to hear that Id isn't simply sticking to its well-honed big guns.

Whatever the reaction to Id's plans to break away from the likes of Doom and Quake next time out, the developer's many followers still obviously have Doom 3 to look forward to, which looks very spangly running on Xbox and should be out on the PC this summer according to an announcement made last week.

Speaking to Reuters, Hollenshead defended that announcement, dismissing speculation that it's just another approximate window. "It's more gospel than that," he said on the show floor. "At this point, the team back in Mesquite [Texas] is literally working on finishing."