2003 Wolfenstein Game Gets Surprise Update
By
Daniel DeAngelo
Developers surprise fans with the sudden announcement of an unexpected update for a moderately obscure Wolfenstein spinoff released back in 2003.
Id Software surprised fans by announcing the launch of four new dedicated servers for Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory. As a result, players of the 2003 Wolfenstein multiplayer title can log in now to play the original, unmodified game and maps preserved just as they were 19 years ago.
Released nearly two decades ago, Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory is an outlier in the series. A stand-alone class-based multiplayer spinoff of Return To Castle Wolfenstein, it’s been kept alive by a small but dedicated fanbase.
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Players have been hosting their own servers for decades, featuring a variety of mods and custom maps. While these aren’t going anywhere, developers wanted to cater to Wolfenstein fans looking for a more nostalgic experience. This led id to open four regional servers running the vanilla version of Enemy Territory. The supported regions are US: Texas, EU: Netherlands, AU: Canberra, and UK: London. The servers are named «id Software Official Vanilla Server» followed by the region’s name.
Developers note that all official servers use the default Campaign mode, where players go through all six vanilla maps in sequence. There is also a limit of 16 players to a server. The developer’s announcement further notes that while id Software is hosting Official & Vanilla Servers, the servers will be unmoderated. However, players who encounter problems can reach out to customer support by visiting help.bethesda.net. In addition to the four new Official Servers, id also used this opportunity to announce that the game is now available on the Microsoft Store, making now a decent time for new players to check out Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory.
For those unfamiliar with the game, Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory’s developers initially planned for it to be a multiplayer expansion pack for 2001’s Return to Castle Wolfenstein. Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory players choose between five different classes with unique tools, weapons, and abilities and must complete objectives to secure victory for either the Axis or Allies. The six maps are inspired by real-world events and locations, in contrast to the supernatural events and science fiction technology that dominate the rest of the franchise. Enemy Territory was also notable for being the first multiplayer-focused Wolfenstein game and the only one until the co-op FPS Wolfenstein: Youngblood came out in 2019.
Today’s announcement saw a generally positive response on Twitter, though many fans seemed more interested in the planned but so far unannounced Wolfenstein 3. Bethesda’s Pete Hines confirmed that the game was on its way in 2019, saying, «Absolutely, we’re making a Wolfenstein 3.
» However, with developer MachineGames still busy working on a new Indiana Jones title, it might still be some time before the next installment of the rebooted Wolfenstein franchise.
Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory is available on PC.
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Wolfenstein 3: Release Date News, and Everything We Know
August 18, 2022
Will there be a Wolfenstein 3? In 2018 when asked about the possibility of a third outing for the first-person shooter, Bethesda’s Pete Hines was unequivocal in saying there “Absolutely” would be a sequel to Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus.
Some corners had worried that ‘slow’ sales for MachineGames second outing might have hampered progress on a third game to feature BJ Blazkowicz. It’s now five years since New Colossus launched and we’re no closer to that elusive third game. In actuality, it’s more likely that Wolfenstein 3 has been put on the back burner whilst MachineGames work on their new Indiana Jones Game.
For now though, read on for everything we know about Wolfenstein 3, including when it might arrive, when it will be set and whether it could include the long-awaited Mecha Hitler.
18 Aug Update - Checked for the latest Wolfenstein 3 news. All the most recent updates are found just below.
Latest News
So we got zero news about Wolfenstein 3 from Microsoft’s Xbox Bethesda Showcase.
What was interesting is that of all the games shown during the 95-minute conference, all of them were promised to release in the next 12 months.
We suspect that Gamescom in August will also be focused purely on games coming in the next few months so we doubt we’ll hear anything about Wolfenstein 3 until next year at E3.
Hopefully, we’re wrong, but we suspect that could be the case at least in an official capacity.
Microsoft was already set to hold an Xbox Games Showcase together with Bethesda on Sunday, June 12. However, they’ve now announced an Extended stream which is set to take place on June 14 and last roughly 90 minutes.
According to a blog post from Microsoft, the company will “share new trailers, take deeper looks at the news from the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase and speak with some of your favourite game creators”.
Let’s hope that includes a look at the next Wolfenstein game!
Microsoft has announced plans to host an E3-style Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase on Sunday, June 12. “This show will feature amazing titles coming from Xbox Game Studios, Bethesda, and our partners around the world,” it said.
Could we see the new Indiana Jones Game during the event? Here’s hoping.
Fans have spotted that Teemu Kivikangas – a developer at MachineGames – has updated his LinkedIn profile to note that he is now the lead game designer on “an unannounced project” at the studio. MachineGames are also working on a new Indiana Jones game together with LucasGames. His profile notes this as a separate project in which he worked as a senior game designer so the ‘Unannounced Project’ isn’t Indiana Jones.
Maybe the developer is secretly working on both projects in tandem?
If you’re wondering why another E3 passed without any info on Wolfenstein 3 Bethesda executive Pete Hines told GameSpot’s Tamoor Hussain that fans will have to “wait till we [Bethesda] get to the point of wanting to talk about it”.
Release Date
As we’ve alluded to, it’s been just over 5 years since MachineGames released The New Colossus and just over 3 years since Bethesda confirmed they fully intended to make Wolfenstein 3. As we’ve noted though, the developer is also making a new Indiana Jones Game.
So it’s hard to say which title is being developed first, or indeed how much progress the developer has made on Wolfenstein 3. We imagine that the developer might be aiming to release Indiana Jones in 2023 in line with the new movie coming out the same year.
This either means that Wolfenstein 3 is set for a surprise 2022 launch, or potentially in the years after 2023.