DOOM: The Dark Ages Launches with 3 Million Players, id Software's Biggest Debut

DOOM: The Dark Ages marks a historic milestone for id Software, reaching over 3 million players since its launch—making it the studio’s biggest release to date. Read on to discover how it compares to DOOM: Eternal, and what exclusive updates await PC players.

DOOM: The Dark Ages is Out Now!

id Software’s Most Successful Launch Ever

Released last week, DOOM: The Dark Ages has already garnered widespread acclaim from critics and fans alike. In a recent post on X (formerly Twitter) by Bethesda on May 21, it was announced that the game has surpassed 3 million players, setting a new record for id Software.

Interestingly, this achievement was reached 7 times faster than the previous entry, DOOM: Eternal. However, this appears to contrast with data from Superdata in 2020, which estimated that DOOM: Eternal hit the 3 million player mark within just 10 days of release. It’s worth noting that these figures are estimates, and Bethesda has never officially confirmed them.

When comparing the two titles, context matters. At the time of DOOM: Eternal's launch, Bethesda was still under ZeniMax Media, which had not yet been acquired by Microsoft. This meant that DOOM: Eternal was not available on Xbox Game Pass at launch.

In contrast, DOOM: The Dark Ages launched day one on PC Game Pass, influencing its distribution across platforms. According to SteamDB, the game reached a peak of 31,470 concurrent players on Steam—a figure that falls short of DOOM: Eternal’s 104,891 Steam players at launch. Analyst firm Ampere estimates that approximately 2 million of The Dark Ages players are playing via Xbox.

Despite the differences in platform availability and metrics, DOOM: The Dark Ages is being celebrated as one of the strongest entries in the franchise. At Game8, we awarded it an impressive 88 out of 100, praising its return to a more grounded, brutal combat style—moving away from the acrobatic intensity of DOOM (2016) and Eternal. For a deeper dive into our thoughts on the game, check out our full review below!