Legendary game designer John Romero confirmed that his upcoming first-person shooter remains in active development after losing funding from Microsoft in 2025, taking major design cues from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Speaking at Gamescom Asia x Thailand Game Show 2026, Romero addressed the massive hurdle faced by his studio, Romero Games. The company suffered a brutal downsizing following budget cuts across the Xbox division, shrinking from 110 staff members down to just five core developers. Despite the devastating blow, the mind behind Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Quake claimed he is currently in a better creative space than he has been in decades.
Romero admitted that the sudden cancellation by the tech giant was hard to process, but stated he harbors no bitterness. His philosophy focuses entirely on moving forward, an attitude that recently allowed the team to secure a new publishing partner to ensure the game moves ahead.
A shooter with a new publisher and upgraded engine
While Romero avoided revealing the identity of the publisher or any target release window, he did confirm that development relies on Unreal Engine 5.8. The team is actively carrying over substantial amounts of assets and concepts created for the project that was initially disrupted by the cancellation.
During past appearances, such as the Salón del Videojuego de Madrid, Romero teased that the title would deliver something never seen before in the genre, drawing parallels to the fresh sense of discovery found in Elden Ring. He has now elaborated on how that player agency directly translates into this new first-person shooter experience.
Romero emphasized that he dislikes games that dictate precisely how someone must play. Drawing an analogy to indie title Blue Prince, he explained that the greatest appeal comes when turning around or choosing an alternate path reveals an entirely unexpected layer of the game world.
The structural impact of Breath of the Wild
His primary point of comparison for the game loop is The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, particularly how the environment invites spontaneous exploration and delightful sidetracking.
Romero described a scenario where a player spots a distant tower and decides to head toward it, only to encounter countless distractions along the way that completely alter their journey. For the veteran developer, making players forget their initial destination because they stumbled into engaging activities is the core feeling he wants to inject into this gun-heavy adventure.
By prioritizing freedom over rigid mission waypoints, Romero hopes to deliver a genuine sense of adventure within the genre he helped define decades ago.