DoomRL creator makes free roguelike open-source to try and counter Zenimax legal threat

After Zenimax threatened legal action against the developer of DoomRL, a free roguelike taking heavy inspiration from the Doom series of video games, has now open-sourced the game in an attempt to end his legal issues with Zenimax, changing its name to DRL as part of the transition.

The letter demanded the removal of "all ZeniMax trademarks from meta tags, keywords ,media and other visible or concealed text connected to [the game’s] website". As a result, the game’s website now looks much less Doom.

DoomRL creator Kornel Kisielewicz said "I planned to release the source code of DoomRL as a "thank you" after a successful Jupiter Hell Kickstarter, but ZeniMax forced my hand." adding on a reddit post recently that as Zenimax’s cease and desist was aimed at the website rather than the game itself, he felt okay open-sourcing the game.

It’s an interesting move seeing as id is famous for open-sourcing it’s titles, with the original Doom being open-sourced nearly 20 years ago and every subsequent game in the collection, up to Doom 3 also getting the same treatment after release. 

"I realized that if I push it OS now, I can still push it in it’s original state," he wrote. "Even if I have to change it later as a result of a game-targeted C&D, the original source, and hence the original game will still be out there somewhere. You can’t stop the signal."