Update [Sat 10th May 2025, 9:15am]:
Similar to how Indiana Jones and the Great Circle left PlayStation 5 owners disappointed earlier this year, Microsoft and Bethesda have once more fallen short in satisfying their fanbase by delivering physical copies of DOOM: The Dark Ages with minimal content on the disc.
The information about the upcoming first-person shooter comes from Does It Play, who received screenshots from one of their supporters. Unfortunately, only 85MB of data is available on the Blu-ray disc, requiring fans to download the rest of the game. Consequently, it’s impossible to play the game without a significant download.
The current predicament seems to echo the debated Game Key Cards issue on the proposed Nintendo Switch 2. However, unlike them, which are clearly depicted in the packaging, here we only have a minimal ‘Requires Internet’ notice on the cover.
In simpler terms, we propose that Sony enforces a rule where publishers must include the full version 1.0 game code on the physical disc (Blu-ray) if they choose to release a physical edition. We acknowledge there’s a cost involved with production, but since Blu-rays are relatively inexpensive, it seems reasonable that publishers should bear this cost for the physical release option.
The upcoming medieval shooter, DOOM: The Dark Ages, developed by id Software (part of Bethesda), is likely to require a download even for its physical copies.
You might remember that the physical version of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle came with a substantial download requirement, as only 20GB of data was available on the disk itself.
It appears that initial versions of the recently released DOOM game have a warning label stating ‘Internet Required’ on the packaging. At present, there’s some debate about this matter, but certain sources claim that the game cannot be played unless it is first downloaded online.
As a gamer, I’ve got to say, this isn’t like a day one patch we usually get. Normally, when I pop in a Blu-ray game into my PS5, I can play it right away without needing an internet connection. But here, only a piece of the game’s data is on the disc, with the rest needing to be downloaded.
In simpler terms, the process of buying a Blu-ray disc instead of Nintendo Switch 2’s Game Key Card works similarly. You purchase a physical disc, but rather than carrying the game itself, it serves as a tool to download the game. The key difference is that Blu-rays are significantly cheaper compared to the cartridges, which come with higher production costs.
To put it simply, we’re quite disappointed with Microsoft’s approach to physical copies of games on the PS5. Titles like Forza Horizon 5 have completely bypassed boxed releases, and if DOOM: The Dark Ages is indeed comparable to Indiana Jones, then one could argue that Bethesda might as well not have made the effort at all.
None of this is good for future game preservation.
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2025-05-10 11:44