The cat is out of the bag. DOOM: The Dark Ages Begin May 15, 2025And it will be the third ‘Nu-Doom’ game from respected developer ID Software. However, as a prequel to the Instant Classic Doom (2016), the game will avoid the trend set by both the first game in the rebooted series and 2020’s Doom Eternal. There is no multiplayer.
In a roundtable interview chaired by ID Software’s Marty Stratton (Studio Director) and Hugo Martin (Creative Director), the two Doom veterans confirmed that there will be no Multiplayer mode at all for Dark Ages.
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“We wanted to be part of the campaign,” Martin said. “We were able to level up the single-player element (of the dark ages) because it was our entire focus.”
The game won’t have you maintaining your stance as the Nigh-Immortal Doom Slayer this time around. As a direct result of committing more resources to single-player development, we’ll have set pitches involving “30-story Atlan machines” and “fire-tinged, gatling – giant cyberdragons.” Yes, really.
“This is what we wanted to do in the last two games,” Stratton said, specifically mentioning Atlan’s inclusion. If you’re not completely up to date on your doomsday knowledge (who would blame you), the Atlans were massive war machines used by the Night Sentinels in their war against the forces of Hell. From a playthrough of a past Doom game.
Stratton and Martin seemed very excited by the reveal and inclusion of the Mech in Doom: The Dark Ages, and suggest finally having the Slayer pilot one of these Evangelion-sized beasts. Single player element of the game.
Relatedly, the duo boasted that this was the “largest play area in a Doom game,” and featured a variety of bonus dungeons, caves, and fights to engage in when you go off the beaten path. “We control the pace of the game,” Martin said. “You control where you go, who you fight, and your goals.” Once again, the developers cite that being able to pump this much content into the story and world will allow ID to focus entirely on the single-player aspect of the game.
I’m not complaining. In a world where we see multiplayer games spreading out in knots, live service slop is taking up more and more space in virtual stores. Lots of focus from lots of developers. Perhaps that’s something Sony and Blizzard can learn from in the coming months and years.
DOOM: Dark Ages launches on May 15th and will be available on Xbox Game Pass for PC and Xbox Series, but will also be released on PlayStation 5.
