Of all the strange things to come out of 2020, one of the strangest was the "friendship" between Isabelle from Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Doomguy from DOOM Eternal. Though neither character has officially crossed over in any real game, an unlikely friendship between these two became a popular meme last March when both New Horizons and Doom Eternal released on the same day. The shared launch lead to various jokes playing off the fact that these games are about as different in tone and gameplay as two games can get. Fans of both franchises can't get enough of this pairing, and DOOM publisher Bethesda has gotten in on the fun.In a celebratory New Year's tweet, Bethesda shared an image on its official Twitter featuring toy figures of both Isabelle and Doomguy arranged to look like they're holding hands and frolicking together accompanies by the caption "Happy New Horizons." It isn't the first time that the DOOM or Bethesda Twitter accounts have acknowledged and joked about this pairing, but fans can't help but speculate whenever or not this might lead to something bigger.
The most obvious conclusion that gamers have come to is that Doomguy could be coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as part of the second Fighters Pass. Doomguy is one of the most highly-requested characters for the game, and rumors regarding his inclusion have persisted ever since the first Fighters Pass was announced back in 2018. Fans have a number of reasons to believe Doomguy could make it into the game.
Several Bethesda games like The Elder Scrolls and Wolfenstein have been released on the Nintendo Switch, and Doom Eternal came to the console last month. Although not every character in Smash has appeared in a game that is available on a Nintendo console, the seemingly positive working relationship between the two companies does increase the possibility of Doomguy joining the fight. In addition, the inclusion of Fallout's Vault Boy as a Mii costume last June led many to believe that Sakurai was foreshadowing more Bethesda content in the future.
However, there's a good chance that the tweet doesn't mean anything in particular, and it's most likely Bethesda was just having another laugh at the popular meme. Still, until the final DLC character drops for Smash Ultimate, the speculation over Doomguy's inclusion will persist, and his "friendship" with Isabelle will last forever.