Doom: The Dark Ages 'The Biggest Launch in id's History' — but No Sales Figure Yet

Doom: The Dark Ages has attracted 3 million players since its release last week, though Bethesda has not yet disclosed official sales figures.

A Bethesda social media post confirmed that Doom: The Dark Ages marks id Software’s largest-ever launch by player count, reaching 3 million players seven times faster than Doom Eternal did in 2020.

It’s important to examine the context behind these numbers. Doom: The Dark Ages launched on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S on May 15, 2025. Steam is the only platform that publicly shares player data, so let’s begin there.

On Steam, Doom: The Dark Ages reached a peak of 31,470 concurrent players, with a 24-hour high of 16,328. In comparison, Doom Eternal peaked at 104,891 concurrent players five years ago—making The Dark Ages’ Steam performance seem relatively modest. For additional context, Doom (2016) achieved a peak of 44,271 concurrent players on Steam, a number set nine years ago.

However, the impact of Game Pass must be factored in. Doom: The Dark Ages launched day one on Game Pass for both Xbox consoles and PC. Many players likely tried the game through their subscriptions rather than paying the full $69.99 U.S. retail price.

From Microsoft’s perspective, this may be entirely intentional—they aim to grow subscriptions for PC Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Still, we’ve seen titles succeed in sales even with day-one Game Pass releases, like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which sold over 2 million copies despite being available on Game Pass. Doom: The Dark Ages carries a higher price tag—could that have deterred some potential buyers?

How do you feel about Doom: The Dark Ages' parry system? --------------------------------------------------------

I love it!I preferred the weapon quick-swap style of Doom Eternal.I preferred the run-and-gun style of Doom 2016.

AnswerSee ResultsWhich brings us to the next point: Bethesda has shared a player count of 3 million for Doom: The Dark Ages, but no sales numbers. This mirrors their approach with The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, which reached 4 million players after a day-one Game Pass launch. Similarly, Ubisoft announced 3 million players for Assassin’s Creed: Shadows instead of hard sales figures.

In reality, only Bethesda and Microsoft know whether Doom: The Dark Ages has met its internal goals. But the 3 million player milestone strongly suggests the game has performed exceptionally well on consoles and through Game Pass, while potentially underperforming on Steam.

IGN's review of Doom: The Dark Ages gave it a 9/10, stating: "Doom: The Dark Ages may strip away the mobility focus of Doom Eternal, but replaces it with a very weighty and powerful style of play that is different from anything the series has done before, and still immensely satisfying in its own way."