DOOM: The Dark Ages

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About

Doom: The Dark Ages is an upcoming first-person shooter video game in the Doom series that serves as a prequel to the 2016 video game Doom. Set in a kingdom during the Middle Ages, the FPS follows the origin story of the Doom Slayer's fight against the forces of Hell. The game is scheduled for release in 2025 and was first revealed in June 2024.

History

On June 9th, 2024, video game publisher Bethesda Software announced^[1] Doom: The Dark Ages, the eighth major installment in the Doom video game series, and the third installment in the revival series launched in 2016. On that day, an announcement trailer for the game was uploaded to X^[2] and YouTube,^[3] garnering over 14.5 million views and 3.5 million views, respectively, in two days (shown below).

The game, which is a prequel to the events of the 2016 game Doom, follows the origin story of the Doom Slayer (or Doomguy) and is set during the Middle Ages.

Reception

Announcement Reactions

In the days following the mid-2024 announcement, the game achieved virality on social media, with users discussing the game and posting memes and fan art.

Notably, a weapon showcased in the trailer that uses crushed skulls as ammo inspired several viral posts. For example, on June 9th, 2024, X^[4] user @airbagged posted a clip of Doom Slayer shooting the gun, commenting, "THERE IS A GUN THAT USES CRUSHED SKULLS AS AMMO WHAT THE FUCK DUDE." The post (shown below) received over 9,600 reposts and 90,000 likes in two days.

On June 9th, X^[5] user @reaps_D1I posted a Destroy My Enemies and My Life Is Yours meme about Bethesda's conflict with composer Mick Gordon that received over 4,900 reposts and 49,000 likes in two days (shown below, left). On June 10th, X^[6] user @MilanovicMihael posted a fan art of Doom Slayer that garnered over 2,000 reposts and 14,000 likes in one day (shown below, right).