‘DOOM: The Dark Ages’ Discarded a Multiplayer Option to Make a Better Campaign Mode, Hugo Martin Says
As of the time of writing, we have about a month and a half until DOOM: The Dark Ages comes out on May 15, 2025. At this point, we have seen a lot of in-game videos and scenes, and the devs have also revealed a lot of information on the game.
One aspect that surprised fans when it was revealed was that the game won’t feature a multiplayer mode, unlike the 2016 DOOM reboot and its sequel, DOOM Eternal. The latter two managed to combine a great FPS campaign with a solid multiplayer mode, but The Dark Ages won’t go down that path.
In a recent talk with the press, the game’s boss, Hugo Martin, provided more details on why the game won’t have a multiplayer mode, i.e., why the decision was made to discard that idea.
As said, the information that DOOM: The Dark Ages won’t have a multiplayer mode was somewhat of a shock. And while the decision is final and probably won’t be changed ever, Hugo Martin explained that there is a good and valid reason for the decision to not include a multiplayer mode in the game.
He explained that the decision was made “right from the beginning,” and that they made it so that they could “to just focus all of our energy on trying to make the best campaign we could.” And while some fans wondered why they simply did not add that mode to the game to make it easier for everyone, Martin said that “it’s live service… you can’t just do a little multiplayer. You’ve gotta go — fans’ expectation is [that] you go all the way.”
He further elaborated, saying, “It would definitely come at the expense of the single-player aspects. It felt good to just focus [on] Doom as a single-player experience and not try to turn it into a live service game.”
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