Games

Doom: The Dark Ages Addresses Lack of Multiplayer

26/01/2025

Survival in darkness, the struggle for power

Following Xbox Developer Direct, fans now have additional information about Doom, The Dark Ages, including the reason why a multiplayer mode is not included. With its emphasis on single-player-only gameplay, the next prequel to Doom and Doom Eternal will push the series in several ways. Although the departure from tradition may surprise some, the Doom: The Dark Ages team has a good rationale for their choice.

Many claim that the first shooter with online multiplayer, or at least the first to popularize it, was Doom. Some may find it surprising that id Software is concentrating only on the campaign in their most recent entry given that legacy.

• To concentrate on a more extensive campaign with lots of special features, Doom: The Dark Ages will not have multiplayer.
• Riding a dragon is one of the new gameplay aspects made possible by the decision to focus on single-player content.
• The sophisticated specifications of the game show that the creators have gone above and beyond to provide a captivating experience.

Doom: The Dark Ages’ Lack of Multiplayer Means the Campaign Can Be Bigger Than Ever

Hugo Martin, the game director, elaborated on how emphasizing solitary experiences elevated the campaign to unprecedented levels. Martin claims that Doom: The Dark Ages gives players the ability to ride a dragon and operate a massive mech, two features that ID Software had intended to incorporate in earlier games but was only able to do so in part due to resources allocated to multiplayer. Since Doom: The Dark Ages is now set to introduce previously unheard-of innovations to the series, the developers can devote more time and resources to the dragon and the mech by eliminating the requirement for multiplayer.

The endeavor to push the game to its boundaries has paid handsomely if the specs are any guide. Additionally, the Developer Direct disclosed that Doom: The Dark Ages required a minimum of an 8-core CPU, 16 GB of RAM, and a GPU capable of ray tracing on a PC. Even without multiplayer features, it’s undoubtedly the largest and most challenging Doom game to date.

Executive producer Marty Stratton said Doom: The Dark Ages will be campaign-only during a Q&A at Xbox’s Developer Direct, as reported by Eurogamer. He attributed this to the magnitude of the story mode. According to reports, Doom: The Dark Ages has the largest and most comprehensive campaign in the Doom series to date. This is a result of developers devoting all of their resources to the campaign instead of multiplayer capabilities. In Doom: The Dark Ages, players might engage in combat with allies for the first time, but their allies will be non-player characters. The Doom Slayer is still killing waves of demons by himself, at least in that sense.