DOOM: The Dark Ages – Early Reviews, Performance Concerns, and the Game Pass Factor

DOOM: The Dark Ages, the latest installment in the legendary shooter franchise, has arrived, garnering praise for its innovative gameplay and stunning art direction. However, its initial performance on Steam has sparked discussion, raising questions about its long-term success. Are shifting gaming habits and the rise of subscription services impacting the game's reach?

While reviews have been largely positive, initial player numbers on Steam tell a different story. According to early data, DOOM: The Dark Ages reached just over 31,000 concurrent players during its launch weekend. This figure trails behind the original DOOM (2016), which boasted 13,000 more players, and is significantly lower than DOOM: Eternal, which achieved over three times the player count.

A key factor in this discrepancy could be the absence of a Game Pass release for previous DOOM titles. Is the Xbox subscription service cannibalizing Steam sales? With PC Game Pass offering access to a vast library of games for a monthly fee, some players may opt for the subscription route rather than purchasing the game outright for $70.

Comparisons to other recent Game Pass releases, such as Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and the highly anticipated The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, further highlight the potential impact of subscription services. Both games achieved impressive concurrent player counts – 145,000 and 216,000 respectively – suggesting that Game Pass can significantly boost player engagement. However, it also highlights the risk of fragmenting the audience across different platforms, potentially diminishing the impact on individual sales charts like Steam.

Beyond Game Pass, other factors could be contributing to the lower player count. The author of one article suggests the shift in gameplay mechanics – towards a more methodical, heavy-hitting approach – may not resonate with all DOOM fans. The absence of the series' signature rapid movement and rock-heavy music is another point of contention.

Adding to the mix, DOOM: The Dark Ages also features a forced ray-tracing requirement, potentially limiting the game's accessibility to players with older or less powerful GPUs.

NVIDIA has released a GeForce Game Ready Driver specifically optimized for DOOM: The Dark Ages, featuring native idTech8 ray tracing enhanced by DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation, NVIDIA Reflex, and Ray Tracing. This demonstrates the game's commitment to pushing graphical boundaries, but also reinforces the hardware demands aspect. They even have a bundle offer of the Premium Edition of DOOM: The Dark Ages with the purchase of a qualifying GeForce RTX 50 Series until May 21st.

NVIDIA's announcement states that shortly after launch, an update will introduce PC-exclusive Path Tracing, taking ray traced lighting to the next level on GeForce RTX GPUs thanks to DLSS Ray Reconstruction

While official PC specifications were released alongside launch, requiring at least NVIDIA GPU driver version 576.40 or AMD driver version 25.5.1, the official DOOM: The Dark Ages Launch FAQ notes the game does not support play on the Steam Deck since it is below the minimum hardware spec. While Intel Arc GPUs are not officially supported on PC at this time, the game is still playable on ray-tracing-capable models with 8GB or more of dedicated VRAM, provided the system is running driver version 101.6793 or newer

Whether these factors will ultimately impact the long-term success of DOOM: The Dark Ages remains to be seen. Will the game find its audience despite the shifting landscape of gaming distribution? Is this a sign that single-purchase AAA titles are having trouble at the face of Game Pass?

What do you think? Share your thoughts on DOOM: The Dark Ages, Game Pass, and the future of PC gaming in the comments below!

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Related issues news

Will Doom be on Game Pass?

DOOM: The Dark Ages is optimized for Xbox Series X|S consoles supporting HDR and Ray Tracing. Play it with Game Pass or buy now.

How long does Doom: Dark Ages take to beat?

For Doom The Dark Ages, players can look forward to around 25-30 hours of main story content, with some additional side content as well. In the meantime, be sure to get well prepared for any future release by checking out the Stealth 700 headset.

Is Doom Dark Ages coming to Game Pass?

DOOM: The Dark Ages is available on xCloud (requires Game Pass Ultimate subscription), GeForce NOW and will be available on Boosteroid soon.

Does Doom Dark Ages have glory kills?

Glory Kills have returned in Doom the Dark Ages, though they're a bit more difficult to perform. Glory Strikes, meanwhile, offer many benefits, even if they do not always kill the enemy.

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