After two and a half years, musician Mick Gordon known in the gaming world for his take on the OST of DOOM (2016) broke the silence behind the failed DOOM Eternal OST that was one of the misses that the game had in 2020.
Apparently, there was an NDA which, reasonably enough, could have Mick Gordon being unable to tell his side of the story on what happened on the production of DOOM Eternal OST.
But apparently and as how he started his Medium article, it seems that he is ready to go for the truth despite the legal repercussions or the NDA has expired, but either way, he had a LOT to say…
A TL; DR version of Mick Gordon’s Medium entry is that he is calling out id Software to have completely lied and centered him to be the blaming target on the failed DOOM Eternal OST and forcing him to be silent after a six figure payment.
But instead to continue keeping the silence, he decided to reveal what happened…
Basically, Gordon was given 2 years for composing and IMMEDIATELY finalizing version of what could be on the DOOM Eternal soundtrack, probably Bethesda rushing id Software to have the game ready, but despite Gordon taking the challenge, he felt that id Software wasn’t supporting enough to help him reach the goal as he was given uncompleted description of what the game included in relation of level, puzzles, bosses and everything that coils make the music moody depending on the event.
This mixed with lack of communications and commitments on dates that resulted in delays for everyone.
Then it comes when id Software had some tracks pre-produced and expected Mick Gordon to just comply and produce new music out of it which he found impractical and guesswork due the limited time and limited options.
The real point of the fallout with id Software began when Mark Stratton (Game’s Director) took Gordon’s suggestions as a sign of incompetence, while Gordon explained wht some ideas of his would have been the most human way to do things as id Software’s erratic schedule demanded and they wanted to lock-on music as fast as it was produce.
The problem was that the initial problems were getting worse and things that Mick Gordon anticipated became true and that time began the blaming game on him.
Added to the mix that Gordon began to notice being more unattached on purpose by management and included losing access to a shared music folder that included his work so far and was not given the files back.
All this while DOOM Eternal OST was announced before things got official was another sign that things were not looking good and this was “enough is enough” as Mick Gordon decided to go up management to Bethesda instead of id Software after seven months in limbo.
But much as seen as a solution, Bethesda wanted to pay Gordon all right, but they were NOT in a hurry as 2 days before the release of the games was the day he received officially the contract and already Mick Gordon’s involvement was announced even without going official and stipulated that Gordon was giving out all his work to Bethesda.
But then, Gordon discovered that the contract has some point that were stipulated by Marty Stratton that included:
- Potential legal trouble they faced for taking pre-orders before it was under contract.
- Details about their internally-produced OST: an alternative edited from Gordon’s in-game score, which they’d worked on for at least six months without his knowledge or involvement.
All that was enough and Gordon did not approve the proposed version of DOOM Eternal OST, but obviously that didn’t matter to Stratton or id Software’s Lead Audio Designer, Chad Mossholder, as the OST production went ahead.
OK, SO MUCH STUFF HERE, but Can you give a backstory?
For those who don't know, the DOOM Eternal Original Soundtrack was offered as part of the Collector Edition (and of course, could be acquired individually) and was released on April 20, a month after the game was released. But fans quickly found something amiss with the sound mixing leading to a backlash against id Software and in particular id’s lead audio engineer Chad Mossholder, which included an in-depth analysis by musicians and musician hobbyist fans of the game.
Back then, Mick Gordon said that he didn’t work on those song despite being announced as part of the musician team and prompted Marty Stratton to actually reveal that is a fact that Gordon was not a heavy part of computing and blaming him in the infamous Reddit open letter in a FAN-MADE subreddit, not an official Bethesda subreddit made.
To have a big context, you should read the entire Medium blog but want to add that Mick Gordong since day 1 have been trying to Bethesda to rectify some information and fed up with hate and personal attacks on him and his work, he decided to break the silence and as of the writing of this, no Bethesda response has been issued.
