Doom: The Dark Ages is id Software’s Biggest Launch Ever, but We Still Don’t Know How Well It Actually Sold

Bethesda confirmed this week that Doom: The Dark Ages racked up 3 million players in less than a week, calling it the fastest-growing DOOM game in the studio’s history. That’s a huge milestone, even if there’s a major catch: they didn’t reveal how many of those players bought the game.

Instead, the stat was dropped via social media in a victory lap post celebrating the launch. According to the publisher, it took The Dark Ages just one-seventh the time Doom Eternal needed to hit the same 3 million mark. That’s an impressive ratio—until you start asking about platforms.

Because when we look closer at where people are playing, the story gets weird.

On Steam, The Dark Ages peaked at 31,470 concurrent players. That’s fine, but nothing close to Doom Eternal’s 104,891 back in 2020. Even Doom 2016 hit over 44,000 peak players at launch. In other words, for a supposed record-breaking release, the PC numbers seem muted.

But that’s where Game Pass comes in.

The Dark Ages launched day one on Xbox and PC Game Pass, meaning a huge chunk of those 3 million players likely didn’t pay the full $69.99. Instead, they either dipped in through a subscription or downloaded it as part of their existing bundle. Which is great for visibility, but makes it hard to know how the actual sales stack up.

We’ve seen this tactic before. Microsoft and Bethesda used the same approach with Oblivion Remastered—another Game Pass day-one launch, which “celebrated” 4 million players without mentioning unit sales. Ubisoft pulled the same move with Assassin’s Creed: Shadows just this month.

By the way, remembering and comparing these two games, I want to remind you of a slightly scandalous mod. The already removed DOOM armour for Oblivion, which completely transfers the armour of Doom Guy to Oblivion Remaster. The author of the modification says that he received a message from Bethesda for "violating the immersiveness of the game."

So while Doom: The Dark Ages might be winning on engagement, it's unclear if that’s translating into revenue. The $70 price tag could also be a factor, especially when other Game Pass launches like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 managed to hit 2 million in paid sales at a lower price point.

This raises a real question: is the new DOOM selling well, or is it just “popular” in the Netflix sense of the word?

IGN gave the game a 9/10, praising its slower, heavier combat and parry system, which deviates hard from the speedrun madness of Doom Eternal. Some fans love the new medieval tone and weightier playstyle. Others aren’t sold on the shift, and the Steam player numbers might reflect that division.

Bethesda probably doesn’t care. If The Dark Ages is driving Game Pass subs and getting praise from critics, that’s already a win under Microsoft’s ecosystem model. But it’s a shift from the old metric of success—actual sales—that long-time DOOM fans might still care about.

To put this all in context, here’s how Doom has performed over the years:

That last row is worth pausing on. The Dark Ages is sitting at a strong 89 Metacritic average, the highest of the modern DOOMs. That’s a big deal, especially given the controversial design shift. It shows that, creatively, id Software still has its edge.

But until we get solid sales numbers, the business picture is blurry. Are people just trying DOOM, or actually buying it?

Bethesda seems happy to leave that unanswered. And with Game Pass continuing to warp traditional sales metrics, we may never get a clear picture.

What we do know is that Doom: The Dark Ages isn’t a flop—it’s being played, praised, and discussed. That’s already more than a lot of games can say. But it’s also part of a bigger trend in 2025: where “3 million players” means more than “units sold.”

So, is DOOM still a sales monster? Maybe. But now it’s more like a service-era juggernaut. And that might be the most 2025 thing about it.