The next DOOM is called 'DOOM: The Dark Ages,' with a medieval feel — and it's coming to Xbox, Windows, and PlayStation
Slated for the Xbox Games Showcase 2024 on June 9, 2024, DOOM: The Dark Ages takes the series to a medieval setting.
What you need to know
- Rumors have been swirling for a while that the next DOOM from Microsoft subsidiary id Software is on the docket for an imminent reveal.
- Now, separate reports we can corroborate suggest the next DOOM is a prequel of sorts, dubbed DOOM: The Dark Ages.
- We can also corroborate reports that DOOM: The Dark Ages is a multiplatform release for both Xbox and PlayStation.
It has been four years since DOOM Eternal graced our screens, and id Software is showing no signs of slowing down.
Today, separate reports from reliable sources at Insider Gaming and Nate The Hate have given us a glimpse at where DOOM is headed next. We're about to get medieval.
We can corroborate Insider Gaming and Nate's reports on DOOM: The Dark Ages. Although I didn't have the name, multiple sources confirmed to me over the past few weeks that DOOM is heading to the Xbox Games Showcase 2024. The game's working title was DOOM: Year Zero, originally leaked via the FTC last summer, and it seems that DOOM: The Dark Ages will be a prequel of sorts.
DOOM game director Hugo Martin has remarked on previous streams that he desires to slow DOOM down a bit, to make you feel like you're a hulking monster truck rather than a deadly race car. It would fit the theme of DOOM heading to the past, before the Doom Slayer acquired many of his modern powers and weapons — although the Night Sentinels of Argent D'nur still had access to guns and things of this nature, albeit with a traditional "knightly" twist. But perhaps the setting will be before Doom Slayer even encountered the Night Sentinels as well.
With the modern DOOM games expanding the lore exponentially to other planets and races, the march of Hell across the cosmos could potentially go anywhere, to any time period. DOOM Slayer will be there to rip and tear, of course, with reckless abandon.
DOOM: The Dark Ages is coming to PlayStation too
I can also confirm Nate's report that DOOM: The Dark Ages is slated for PlayStation in addition to Xbox and Windows PC, potentially day and date. Microsoft acquired Zenimax a few years ago, and with it id Software and the DOOM IP. I remarked in my Xbox Games Showcase 2024 predictions that you might get a glimpse at Microsoft's evolving multiplatform strategy at the show, and this is partially what I was referring to. Some may lament the opportunity Microsoft had to "pull" DOOM away from PlayStation, but id Software was already set up for building multiplatform titles in parallel. DOOM has always existed on PlayStation too, and as with franchises like Fallout and Minecraft, it doesn't make any sense to arbitrarily pull it from one of the game's biggest fanbases. The business is selling games and subscriptions like Xbox Game Pass after all. And you can expect DOOM: The Dark Ages to join other DOOM games on Xbox DOOM Game Pass as well.
Naturally, though, you can expect DOOM: The Dark Ages marketing to have a very heavy Xbox slant, alongside Call of Duty Black Ops 6, and various other upcoming games slated for the Xbox Games Showcase 2024 on June 9th, 2024, some of which will also potentially go multiplatform to PlayStation too.
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Jez Corden is a Managing Editor at Windows Central, focusing primarily on all things Xbox and gaming. Jez is known for breaking exclusive news and analysis as relates to the Microsoft ecosystem while being powered by tea. Follow on Twitter (X) and Threads, and listen to his XB2 Podcast, all about, you guessed it, Xbox!
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GraniteStateColin At the very least, I'd like to see MS give Xbox a period of exclusivity. This still enables them to earn revenue from PS user sales without giving up the incentive for the biggest Doom fans to shift to Xbox over time.Reply
More important, they need to project a consistent (Ha, MS and consistent?) model to achieve this incentive effect. If users come to know that certain series of games will also come to PS, but only after 6 months or whatever period of time (exact amount of time can vary), then that teaches them that if they want the game at launch, their next console purchase will be an Xbox. It probably has no effect in the very short term, but it's a winner in the long run, but ONLY if they teach customers to know that they'll get the games sooner on Xbox.