Gamers who started their Wolfenstein journeys with MachineGames’ 2014 The New Order reboot may be excited at the idea of visiting a freshly remastered version of its predecessor, as the 2009 game’s SteamDB page has received an intriguing update.
2009 Wolfenstein game might be getting remastered
It can be argued that one of the two most important Wolfenstein eras was in the early 90s, when id Software turned it into the FPS that laid the groundwork for Doom to become the genre-defining title we know it as today. The other was in the mid-2010s when MachineGames’ popular Wolfenstein reboot series kicked off near the beginning of the Xbox One and PS4 generation. Caught in-between was Raven Software’s 2009 game, simply titled Wolfenstein, that failed to make any sort of waves or have any staying power despite having Activision behind it as its publisher. Releasing during the peak of Call of Duty‘s golden age surely didn’t do it any favors.
Just five years after its 2009 release, Raven’s Wolfenstein game was delisted from Steam right ahead of MachineGames’ Wolfenstein: The New Order release date. Raven’s entry already flew under the radar, but its PC delisting and Bethesda’s all-new reboot series kicking off buried it into obscurity as MachineGames became the celebrated new steward of the franchise.
could it drop during quakecon?
Wolfenstein fans online have noticed something peculiar about the old, long-forgotten 2009 FPS. The game’s SteamDB page seems to have been mysteriously updated a few days ago, on July 22. Furthermore, the page now shows that Wolfenstein has been verified for Steam Deck, insinuating that a re-release of some sort could be in order for the 16-year-old game. Fans are hoping that it’s a remaster rather than a simple port or re-release, though anything would surely suffice for fans, if these SteamDB page changes truly are leading somewhere.
If these changes to Wolfenstein‘s SteamDB page do in fact indicate a re-release or remaster really is on the way, a drop during Bethesda’s QuakeCon wouldn’t be out of the question. QuakeCon is imminently approaching in just two weeks, on August 6, and runs until August 9. There’s been recent history of old remasters and ports shadow dropping during QuakeCon. In fact, the past three years in a row have each seen such a release: Heretic + Hexen last year, Doom + Doom 2 in 2024, and Quake 2 Remastered in 2023. If Bethesda is keeping the pattern alive for a fourth year in a row, Wolfenstein‘s mysterious and seemingly random Steam Deck verification screams that it’ll be next up.
With MachineGames reportedly at work on Wolfenstein 3, it would make sense for Bethesda to want to revive the Wolfenstein game that got left in the dust before MachineGames took over. Since the near decade since Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus has left fans of the alternate history shooter series extremely hungry, putting out a remaster of the 2009 game would hold fans over while Machine continues working on Wolfenstein 3. Still, this Wolfenstein remaster isn’t confirmed, so fans will have to wait two weeks until QuakeCon to find out if it’s indeed real.