id Software has had issues surrounding the soundtrack for DOOM Eternal and its composer Mick Gordon. According to an open post from executive producer Marty Stratton, on Reddit, outlined that Mick Gordon has fallen behind due dates for his music requiring id Software’s in house lead audio designer to fill in the gaps. According to Marty Stratton, Mick Gordon edited and “mixed” only 12 of the 59 tracks on the OST with id Software’s lead audio designer doing the rest. This would lead to Mick Gordon not being considered for future DOOM projects.

Marty does claim that id Software gave Mick Gordon both enough allotted time to complete the work and had plenty of creative freedom. Even with the leniency, he has fallen behind with his workload. When Mick Gordon was asked about working in the future on the DOOM, he commented that it is unlikely that he would work with id Software again. That comment was a surprise to Marty Stratton as id Software has not started a dialogue about ending their collaboration until that comment.

Mick has had near limitless creative autonomy over music composition and mixing in our recent DOOM games, and I think the results have been tremendous. His music is defining – and much like Bobby Prince’s music was synonymous with the original DOOM games from the 90s, Mick’s unique style and sound have become synonymous with our latest projects.

“After discussions with Mick in January of this year, we reached general agreement on the terms for Mick to deliver the OST by early March – in time to meet the consumer commitment of including the digital OST with the DOOM Eternal CE at launch,” Marty Stratton said. Mick Gordon did receive an extension on his music to mid-April. Mick Gordon claimed that with the extra six weeks he could deliver thirty tracks instead of the initially agreed twelve which would allow him to explore the music to its fullest.

id Software did have to delay the OST in DOOM Eternal CE, which was promised at launch. Marty said that this wasn’t something they wanted to do but “it’s important to note at this point that not only were we disappointed to not deliver the OST with the launch of the CE, we needed to be mindful of consumer protection laws in many countries that allow customers to demand a full refund for a product if a product is not delivered on or about its announced availability date.” At the beginning of April, id Software started mixing their own tracks as Mick only delivered nine tracks and suggested mixing the in house music with his.

These heavily compressed mixes were then thrown together and had their combined master volume lowered, which is what creates those seemingly perfectly parallel edges throughout. The instruments are all fighting each other, & thus the mix sounds very poor as a result.

— The Super Doominal Crossing Movie (@DoominalCross) April 19, 2020

On April 19th, id Software was able to release the OST, which received a mixed reception, with fans noting the differences between the in house music and Mick Gordon’s. Mick Gordon also raised concerns with id Software’s lead audio designer been credited as a co-composer and contributing artist. Marty Stratton finished by saying: “As for the immediate future, we are at the point of moving on and won’t be working with Mick on the DLC we currently have in production. As I’ve mentioned, his music is incredible, he is a rare talent, and I hope he wins many awards for his contribution to DOOM Eternal at the end of the year.”