DOOM Creator Denies The Game's Official March 2022 Setting

screenrant.com:

DOOM co-creator John Romero has denied the idea that the game is set in March 2022 and that the game was never meant to take place at any specific point in time. The idea of DOOM being set in March 2022 started circulating on social media over the past few weeks, as someone pointed out a piece of lore that seemed to point towards that time period.

DOOM has been ported many times to various systems since the game first launched in the early '90s. Console makers rushed to make a DOOM port, with varying levels of success. A SNES port of DOOM was released in '95 but it took a major hit in graphical quality and framerate, as well as being difficult to play using a SNES controller. Nowadays, there are dedicated ports of DOOM for all modern platforms and they have been optimized to run near-flawlessly.

Related: DOOM 2 Gets First New Level In Nearly 30 Years To Support Ukraine

Despite its issues, the SNES version of DOOM is notable for its manual, which has been scanned and can easily be found online. The DOOM manual is done in the style of a military guide and it features information about the weapons, items, and monsters that the player will encounter. The front cover of the manual claims that it was issued on March 15, 2022, suggesting DOOM is set in the current era. DOOM co-creator John Romero has since debunked this idea on Twitter.

DOOM does not take place in March 2022. DOOM is timeless. Somehow, the manual for the Super Nintendo DOOM had a date in it, but that date did not come from anyone at id. https://t.co/phAymYHmWd

Romero claims that the information doesn't come from anyone at id Software because DOOM ports were handled by many different companies back in the day. The SNES version was developed by Sculptured