DOOM: The Dark Ages reaches 3 million players 7x faster than DOOM: Eternal

Developer id Software and publisher Bethesda Softworks' new first-person shooter DOOM: The Dark Ages has already reached 3 million players since launch.

The official Bethesda Bluesky account shared the news on Tuesday, additionally confirming that DOOM: The Dark Ages reached this milestone seven times faster than its 2020 predecessor, DOOM Eternal, making the biggest-ever launch for id Software.

Of course, as an Xbox first-party game, DOOM: The Dark Ages also launched directly into Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass, an important factor that would naturally impact how quickly players flocked to each game.

DOOM: The Dark Ages is also available on Battle.net as part of Microsoft's newfound effort to explore launching games from Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda Softworks on Blizzard Entertainment's PC launcher.

This Battle.net push is also part of Xbox Play Anywhere, meaning someone that buys a copy on Xbox consoles, the Xbox PC app, or Battle.net can play with any of the three versions of the game at no extra cost.

Looking ahead, id Software will be updating the PC version of DOOM: The Dark Ages to support Path Tracing in June, bringing better visuals for players with the hardware to run it.

The game is also getting a campaign story expansion, though there's no release window for the DLC at this time. DOOM Eternal launched in March 2020, with its campaign DLC split across two separate packs, with The Ancient Gods Part 1 and Part 2 launching in October 2020 and March 2021, respectively.

In my review of DOOM: The Dark Ages, I wrote that "DOOM: The Dark Ages is pure fun, even if it's a bit silly at times, and I'm seriously looking forward to what the team at id Software cooks up for the promised campaign DLC. Hitting a demon with a flail or watching as a dragon rips apart a Titan doesn't get old."

DOOM: The Dark Ages is available on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC (via Battle.net, Steam, and the Xbox PC app), and PlayStation 5.

DOOM: The Dark Ages Premium Edition
Buy now: $90 at CDKeys (Steam)

DOOM: The Dark Ages is a blast, proving that developer id Software can still reinvent the wheel when needed. New combat mechanics, weapons, and more shake up the established formula in fun ways across this blockbuster prequel to DOOM (2016). The Premium Edition includes the art book and soundtrack, which is quite good!

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