Why did Doom: The Dark Ages skip multiplayer modes completely?

Dark, Story-Driven Narrative
1

I just found out that the upcoming Doom: The Dark Ages won’t have any multiplayer features at all. The developers said they focused on single-player campaigns because that’s what most players want from modern Doom games.

I’m kind of confused by this decision. I mean, wasn’t multiplayer a big part of what made the original Doom so popular back in the day? Sure, the recent games like Doom 2016 and Doom Eternal had amazing campaigns, but I thought multiplayer was still important to lots of fans.

Does anyone know more details about why they made this choice? Are they really right that most people only care about the campaign mode? I’m wondering if this means they’re putting all their resources into making the single-player experience even better, or if they just couldn’t fit multiplayer into their budget and timeline.

2

Makes sense when you look at player stats. Most people never touched Doom 2016’s multiplayer after launch week.

3

Totally agree. Focusing on the single-player means they can make it truly awesome instead of spreading themselves too thin.

4

I get why they did it but I’m still bummed about losing multiplayer entirely. Sure the recent multiplayer modes weren’t amazing but they could have just done simple deathmatch instead of completely cutting it. Sometimes I want to rip and tear with friends you know? The campaign focus makes sense from a business perspective though since that’s what most people actually play.

5

Yeah the multiplayer in newer Doom games never really clicked for me anyway. Classic Doom multiplayer was great but that was a different era. I think they’re making the right call here, the campaign stuff is what keeps me coming back to these games.

6

I think they probably looked at development costs too. Multiplayer needs a lot of ongoing support and server maintenance that might not be worth it if barely anyone plays it long term.

7

Honestly it makes sense to me. The multiplayer in Doom 2016 was pretty forgettable and most people barely touched it after the first week. Eternal didn’t even bother with traditional multiplayer, just that weird Battlemode thing that nobody really played.

I’d rather they put all their effort into making the campaign as good as possible instead of splitting resources on multiplayer that’ll be dead in a month anyway. The new Doom games are all about that single player power fantasy.