DOOM: The Dark Ages PC launch has been dismal, but not because it’s a bad game — I’m not surprised if player counts are lower

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Lately, we shared insights about the relatively low number of players for DOOM: The Dark Ages on Steam for PC. Although this statistic alone doesn’t tell the whole story, it’s an essential piece of information to give people a sense of what games are currently popular.

One point for discussion is whether the influence of the “Game Pass phenomenon” is noticeable here. Given that a month of Game Pass costs less than purchasing a game on Steam, this could be a factor. However, I strongly believe there’s more to it than mere price difference, even if some degree of impact might be present.

One point we might want to discuss is that the initial release of DOOM: The Dark Ages on PC has been quite challenging.

NVIDIA is king on the desktop, and its drivers have scuppered DOOM

As a tech enthusiast, immersing myself in the dark world of DOOM: The Dark Ages before penning this post would have been a dream come true. Unfortunately, that’s not the reality I’m facing. You see, I’m gaming on a PC, packing an NVIDIA RTX 5080 GPU, and it seems like the latest NVIDIA drivers have turned my experience with DOOM into a nightmare instead of a thrill ride.

While it’s possible to reconnect my Xbox Series X, this isn’t addressing a significant issue that shouldn’t be happening in the first place. Regardless of whether NVIDIA, Bethesda, or both are responsible, what matters is they collaborate to resolve it. They should work together to make things function properly.

When I initiate DOOM: The Dark Ages, the game starts up only to minimize itself, leaving me unable to engage with it despite seeing it listed on my Task Manager.

In my personal use, I haven’t encountered the problem typically associated with Alt+Tab, which is often categorized as a known issue. However, when it comes to playing this game, I can’t seem to get it working smoothly. If I had purchased it at full price, I would likely have requested a refund by now.

Apart from the problem some people have encountered with DOOM: The Dark Ages, I personally haven’t had the opportunity to verify other issues they’ve mentioned, as I haven’t directly experienced them myself.

Additionally, the same driver that was causing the latest DOOM game to fail at launch also led to regular crashes in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, necessitating a reversal of its update.

Is it impractical for devices, particularly cars, to function correctly if the individuals operating them are expected to fix them? Notably, NVIDIA holds a significant lead in the PC graphics market, so any malfunctions they experience can impact many users substantially.

Launches like this are why consoles will always have a place

For approximately half a year now, my Xbox Series X hasn’t been in use. It isn’t due to a lack of affection for it, but rather because I own a gaming computer that boasts greater power and offers all the games I desire, primarily through Game Pass.

However, games like DOOM: The Dark Ages serve as compelling evidence for the ongoing importance of consoles. They offer fewer hardware targets, making development easier and reducing the likelihood of a game not being released at all.

Instead of using older graphics, I’ve upgraded to the newest NVIDIA generation for my PC, which theoretically promises an exceptional gaming experience with DOOM: The Dark Ages. However, I can’t even interact with the game without requiring a solution or workaround.

Currently, there’s a fresh game ready driver from NVIDIA dated May 19th that has just become available. It might include the fixes I need, but it’s not specifically stated in the patch notes. The patch notes only mention updates for the RTX 5060 and future games.

Given suboptimal graphics drivers, it’s understandable that the numbers observed on PC might be lower than anticipated. I acknowledge the complexity of these issues, but such disarray is simply unacceptable.

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2025-05-19 21:39