Yesterday, we were treated to an extended look atDoom: The Dark Ageswith aconfirmation of the July 12, 2025 release date, as well as news that it will be available on PlayStation 5. The Dark Ages will be a prequel to the 2016 soft reboot and will showcase the Doom Slayer in his prime, along with an arsenal of terrifying weapons.
While the plot was never the strong point of the series, Doom Eternal and its DLC gave us a rather definite end. The fact that The Dark Ages is a prequel, further cements that ending. However, it seems that id Software isn’t washing its hands of the IP with the upcoming title. While the reboot story may be over, Doom will continue to rip and tear.
id Software Wants To Make More Doom
Speaking toPCGamerat a preview event, id Software creative director Hugo Martin said that The Dark Ages is not a conclusion of the Doom series. “It isn’t designed to be the end of something,” he said. The team is “genuinely, sincerely, we’re really just focused on this right now,” and Doom: The Dark Ages isn’t “a period on the end of a sentence.”
It seems Doom will live on after The Dark Ages and the team is constantly working on how to make the next title seem fresh while keeping the same action and violence at the centre of the IP. Doom: The Dark Ages has gone back to basics after Doom Eternal introduced the ‘combat chess’ philosophy of constantly switching between weapons and abilities.
Another key point in the development of the upcoming title is theBatman: Year One comic serving as inspiration. “So the prototype name of the project was Slayer: Year One, and that’s a homage to the Batman: Year One comic,” Martin told us at the same event. “[executive producer] Marty Stratton and I read [it] at the beginning of 2016. It’s one of my favourite comics.”
The comic series was based on Batman’s initial years fighting crime in Gotham, which inspired id to go back to the Doom Slayers early years fighting demons. Additionally, the sheer size and brute strength of Batman from The Dark Knight Returns comic series inspired the Slayer’s tank-like approach in the upcoming title.
DOOM: The Dark Ages
WHERE TO PLAY
DOOM: The Dark Ages is the prequel to the critically acclaimed DOOM (2016) and DOOM Eternal that tells an epic cinematic story worthy of the DOOM Slayer’s legend. In this third installment of the modern DOOM series, players will step into the blood-stained boots of the DOOM Slayer, in this never-before-seen dark and sinister medieval war against Hell.DOOM: The Dark Ages is a dark fantasy/sci-fi single-player experience that delivers the searing combat and over-the-top visuals of the incomparable DOOM franchise, powered by the latest idTech engine.REIGN IN HELL -As the super weapon of gods and kings, shred enemies with devastating favorites like the Super Shotgun while also wielding a variety of new bone-chewing weapons, including the versatile Shield Saw. Players will stand and fight on the demon-infested battlefields in the vicious, grounded combat the original DOOM is famous for.STAND AND FIGHT -Experience an epic story of the DOOM Slayer’s rage in this cinematic and action-packed story. Bound to serve as the super weapon of gods and kings, the DOOM Slayer fends off demon hordes as their leader seeks to destroy the Slayer and become the only one that is feared. Witness the creation of a legend as the Slayer takes on all of Hell and turns the tide of the war.DISCOVER UNKNOWN REALMS -In his quest to crush the legions of Hell, the Slayer must take the fight to never-before-seen realms. Mystery, challenges, and rewards lurk in every shadow of ruined castles, epic battlefields, dark forests, ancient hellscapes, and worlds beyond. Armed with the viciously powerful Shield Saw, cut through a dark world of menace and secrets in id’s largest and most expansive levels to date.
