Doom’s open license has allowed the gaming community to get creative with it, making fun games and porting it to unusual devices. Unfortunately, some have tried to exploit Doom to make a profit of their own. This goes against the license terms, which is why Bethesda is now reportedly confronting the creator of Doomsol, a Doom-like browser game used to promote memecoin $DOOM.
In early August, a $DOOM memecoin popped up. The $DOOM website let users play a version of Doom called Doomsol. If the players are able to reach the top of the leaderboard in Doomsol, they receive Sol, Solana’s native cryptocurrency. Overall, this token appeared more sophisticated than many low-effort memecoins, which is why it caught the attention of cryptobros and gamers alike. While the website has been taken down, Bethesda is now moving to pursue legal action.
This isn’t the first time a memecoin associated with video games has surfaced. Recently, the official Pokémon X account was hacked as part of a memecoin scam and used to promote $POKEMON. Many fans believed it to be a legitimate cryptocurrency, as it was being promoted by an official social media account. However, it seems that something similar may have happened with $DOOM. Sandy Petersen, a well-known game designer who worked on several Doom games, extensively promoted this memecoin on social media. This included posting videos of himself buying $DOOM and playing Doomsol.
While Bethesda allows fans to reuse the Doom licence for creative purposes, this IP is not to be used for personal financial gain. That is why Bethesda is taking legal action against the creator of Doomsol. According to Kotaku, Bethesda has not specified who is being served the papers. Petersen’s role in the project is unclear. He is listed as the game’s creator on the now-archived Doomsol website, but his actual involvement with the memecoin is still unspecified.
The creator of $DOOM pulled the rug as early as Aug. 4, and the price of the memecoin tanked. Petersen mentioned the project briefly again on social media at the end of August, and then never again. He claimed that Doom’s open licence made this project legally safe, but Bethesda clearly disagrees. A Bethesda representative, speaking with Kotaku, mentioned “a risk of confusion around affiliation or endorsement” as one of the reasons behind their legal action.