Xbox has set a Doom: The Dark Ages release date for May 15, 2025. The launch was confirmed during the Xbox Developer Direct 2025 stream, where developer id Software was on-hand with an expansive look at the game in action and the details on some of the biggest changes.
The multi-platform release means that the long-awaited sequel to 2020's Doom Eternal will be one of the first titles from an internal Xbox studio to launch simultaneously for Xbox Series X and PS5, alongside PC and entrance into Game Pass. This is all part of Microsoft's emerging strategy to launch its titles on rival platforms – with Grounded, Sea of Thieves, Hi-Fi Rush, and Pentiment making the jump last year.
Where Doom 2016 and Doom Eternal were focused on an unrelenting push-forward approach to combat, Doom: The Dark Ages is built around the concept of stand and fight – wielding a mediaeval arsenal to battle against bigger hordes of marauding demons than ever before. There's wider playspaces, more reactive Glory kills, a suite of new weapons, and the ability to parry monstrous foes with a shield that doubles as a chainsaw… you know, everything you want from a new Doom game.
The decision to simultaneously launch Doom: The Dark Ages on Xbox and PlayStation – rather than stagger the launch, as we're seeing with Indiana Jones and the Great Circle on PS5 (scheduled to land at some point in 2025) – was confirmed at the Xbox Showcase in 2024. At the time, Xbox head Phil Spencer told IGN: "Doom is definitely one of those franchises that has a history of so many platforms… It’s a franchise that I think everyone deserves to play. When I was in a meeting with [Marty Stratton, id Software studio director] a couple years ago, I asked Marty what he wanted to do, and he said he wanted to sell it on all platforms. Simple as that."
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