«Physical» version of Doom: The Dark Ages contains only a web installer, «lucky» owners download 85 GB

id Software sold a digital version of Doom: The Dark Ages under a «wrapper» physical — essentially a web installer on a disk.

A scandal erupted online when it turned out that the physical media did not contain the game itself. The disks for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X contain only a few megabytes of data, and users will have to download the rest — 85 GB — via the Internet. Many players have already canceled their pre-orders. This became known thanks to X users (Twitter) when DoesItPlay1 published a complaint from fans:

In their responses to the post, users explicitly stated that the lack of the game on the disk was a decisive factor in their decision not to buy it. It’s only logical to expect the game to be on the disk. But id Software only provided a key to activate and download from the network.

The amount of people canceling their pre-orders or outright skipping #DoomTheDarkAges because of the botched physical release is huge. We always get these comments in our bubble, but this time it is disproportionate. One can only hope that @CoalitionGears is watching closely.

— Does it play? (@DoesItPlay1) May 12, 2025

This solution is not the first of its kind in the industry. Increasingly, physical media is becoming a formality, for example, Game-Key cards for Switch 2 also require a full download. So what’s the reason for not going digital? It is becoming increasingly clear that a purchased copy of a game is less and less (down to zero) will be the property of the buyer. If the developer removes the official download file from the network, the value of the disk with the web installer will be zero.

So far, id Software has not commented on the situation, and it is not known whether it will respond to the criticism. Despite the controversy, The first reviews of Doom: The Dark Ages are generally positive. The new part tells the story of the Destiny Killer and introduces new types of weapons, such as the Shield Saw and the Rogue’s Chain Shot. And also leads the player through demonic worlds — for example, the Space Kingdom, inspired by the works of Lovecraft. More information can be found in ITC’s review of Doom: The Dark Ages.

The game is available on PC (Steam), PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, as well as try it for free in Game Pass (Xbox and PC) or via PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium. The price really «bites» — ₴2,449 (regular edition) and ₴3,499 (deluxe edition).

Source: Game Rant