Doom: The Dark Ages Marks id's Biggest Launch, Sales Data Pending

Since its launch last week, Doom: The Dark Ages has attracted an impressive 3 million players. Bethesda has proudly announced that this title marks the largest launch by player count in id Software's history, reaching the 3 million milestone seven times quicker than Doom Eternal did in 2020. Released on May 15, 2025, across PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S, the game's performance is particularly noteworthy when dissected across different platforms.

On Steam, Doom: The Dark Ages achieved a peak concurrent player count of 31,470, with a 24-hour peak of 16,328. In comparison, Doom Eternal reached a peak of 104,891 concurrent players five years ago, and the 2016 Doom game hit a peak of 44,271. These figures suggest that The Dark Ages may have underperformed on Steam relative to its predecessors. However, the impact of Game Pass cannot be ignored. As a day-one release on Game Pass for both Xbox consoles and PC, a significant portion of the player base may have opted for the subscription service over purchasing the game outright at its $69.99 price point in the U.S.

From Microsoft's perspective, the success on Game Pass aligns with their strategy to boost subscriptions for PC Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Yet, it's interesting to note that other titles like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 have managed to sell well despite being available on Game Pass. Priced at $50, Clair Obscur has sold 2 million copies, suggesting that price may influence sales for Doom: The Dark Ages.

Bethesda has only disclosed player counts rather than sales figures for Doom: The Dark Ages, a tactic also used for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, which saw 4 million players. Similarly, Ubisoft announced 3 million players for Assassin's Creed: Shadows without revealing sales numbers. While the exact sales performance remains known only to Bethesda and Microsoft, the 3 million player count indicates strong performance on consoles and Game Pass, even if Steam numbers appear less impressive.

IGN's review of Doom: The Dark Ages gave it a 9/10, praising its shift from the mobility-focused gameplay of Doom Eternal to a more weighty and powerful style of play. The review highlighted that this new approach offers a fresh and satisfying experience within the franchise.