A "new version" of announced but long-absent Doom 4 is still in development, publisher Bethesda has said.

Speaking to Kotaku, Bethesda marketing vice president Pete Hines confirmed that the game was still in development, with numerous sources suggesting a release on next-gen consoles.

"An earlier version of Doom 4 did not exhibit the quality and excitement that id and Bethesda intend to deliver and that Doom fans worldwide expect," said Hines.

"As a result, id refocused its efforts on a new version of Doom 4 that promises to meet the very high expectations everyone has for this game and this franchise. When we're ready to talk about the Doom 4 id is making, we will let folks know."

Sources claim that the original version of Doom 4--which one sourced dubbed "Call of Doom"--was scrapped in 2011 after developer id Software finished work on Rage. Sources claim the original version of Doom 4 borrowed many of its creative elements from modern shooters.

“People referenced Call of Duty,” said one source. “There were jokes like, ‘Oh, it’s Call of Doom.’ They referenced it because of the amount it was scripted—there were a lot of scripted set pieces. There was kind of the recognition that in order to be a big shooter these days, you have to have some amount of the big, bombastic movie experience that people get pulled through.“

According to another source, Bethesda scrapped plans for Rage 2 after the original failed to meet commercial and critical expectations, and put everyone at id to work on Doom 4. One executive is reported to have told the project leaders at id that Doom 4 needs to have the same commercial success as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

But while John Carmack said the game will be "done when it's done" at Quakecon 2012, another source says the Doom 4 project is “not going well.”