DOOM:
The
Dark
Ages
has
been
out
for
over
a
week
now
if
you
count
its
paid
early
access
period,
and
just
over
five
days
if
you
don’t.
So
far,
the
critical
reception
has
been
strong
(my
own
review
is
coming)
and
the
players
seem
happy,
too,
at
least
according
to
the
Steam
reviews.
But
based
on
early
data,
the
player
numbers
look
a
little
low.
Now,
before
get
started,
this
is
mostly
going
to
be
speculation
based
on
the
very
limited
data
we
have
available.
The
game’s
launch
on
Game
Pass
makes
it
hard
to
determine
player
numbers
and
sales
alike,
so
keep
that
in
the
back
of
your
mind
as
we
delve
into
the
data.
First,
we
have
Steam
itself,
the
biggest
platform
for
gaming
on
PC.
DOOM;
The
Dark
Ages
is
available
there,
but
since
Game
Pass
is
also
on
PC
we
have
to
consider
that
a
lot
of
PC
players
probably
signed
up
for
the
subscription
service
instead
of
paying
full-price.
And
why
not
when
you
consider
Game
Pass
also
just
got
The
Elder
Scrolls
IV:
Oblivion
Remastered
and
Clair
Obscur:
Expedition
33?
That’s
three
awesome
games
for
like
$15.
That’s
an
insane
deal.
Anyway,
back
on
topic.
According
to
SteamDB,
DOOM:
The
Dark
Ages
hasn’t
had
a
strong
launch
week
on
Steam,
hitting
a
peak
concurrent
player
count
of
31,470.
That’s
very
weak
compared
to
the
series’
previous
entry,
DOOM:
Eternal
which
managed
to
hit
over
100k
concurrent
players.
But
that
maybe
isn’t
the
best
comparison.
After
all,
Eternal
wasn’t
on
Game
Pass
when
it
launched.
So
let’s
compare
it
to
two
games
that
released
within
the
last
few
weeks,
both
on
Game
Pass
as
well.
First,
we
have
The
Elder
Scrolls
IV:
Oblivion
Remastered
which
brought
in
216,784
concurrent
players.
And
second,
we
have
Clair
Obscur:
Expedition
33
which
managed
a
hugely
impressive
145,063.
Not
too
shabby
for
a
brand
new
IP
from
a
small
developer,
eh?
Both
of
these
games
do
have
an
advantage,
though:
they
launched
at
a
cheaper
price
than
DOOM:
The
Dark
Ages,
a
$70
release.
Let’s
bring
it
some
console
data,
too.
PSNProfiles
is
an
interesting
site
because
it’s
primarily
for
Trophy
hunters
and
is
opt-in,
meaning
it
does
not
track
every
single
PlayStation
user
in
the
same
way
that
SteamDB
tracks
ALL
Steam
users.
That
makes
PSNProfiles
less
precise
overall,
but
the
numbers
we
can
grab
from
it
are
still
useful
in
providing
us
a
broad
idea
of
what’s
going
on.
According
to
PSNProfiles,
it
lists
4,386
of
its
users
as
owning
DOOM:
The
Dark
Ages.
Comparing
this
to
DOOM:
Eternal
would
be
pointless,
since
that
game
has
been
out
for
years
and
has
been
discounted
numerous
times.
But
we
can
bring
Expedition
33
and
Oblivion
back
in
for
comparison.
Both
games
have,
of
course,
been
out
slightly
longer
than
DOOM:
The
Dark
Ages,
but
I
believe
are
close
enough
to
at
least
provide
some
degree
of
context.
Clair
Obscur:
Expedition
33
is
listed
as
having
19,130
owners,
while
Oblivion
is
sitting
at
15,787.
That’s
a
very
large
divide.
Over
on
Xbox,
we
can
take
a
look
at
TrueAchievements,
a
similar
site
to
PSNProfiles
that
tracks
users.
However,
it
handles
its
data
different,
essentially
scanning
around
2.5
million
random
Xbox
profiles
a
week
(a
profile
is
only
valid
if
it
has
at
least
one
game
played
that
week)
and
then
uses
that
data
to
estimate
how
many
people
own
a
particular
game.
Again,
then,
the
data
is
far
from
accurate
but
does
give
us
a
rough
idea
of
trends
and
general
success/failure.
Currently,
the
site
is
tracking
DOOM:
The
Dark
Ages
at
just
under
100k
owners.
Note,
this
also
counts
people
who
have
played
it
on
Game
Pass
because
as
far
as
I
am
aware
the
website
doesn’t
distinguish
between
people
who
have
bought
the
game
and
people
who
got
it
via
subscription.
Let’s
compare
that
again
to
Clair
Obscur:
Expedition
33
and
The
Elder
Scrolls
IV:
Oblivion
Remastered,
while
remembering
both
have
been
out
for
longer.
Expedition
33
is
at
129.2k
owners.
Oblivion,
meanwhile,
is
sitting
at
just
under
185k
players.
Bringing
all
of
this
together,
we
can
probably
safely
infer
that
DOOM:
Eternal
is
tracking
behind
both
Expedition
33
and
Oblivion
Remastered.
That
means
it
almost
certainly
hasn’t
reached
the
4m
players
Oblivion
officially
reached
within
the
first
week.
As
for
Expedition
33,
it
managed
to
sell
2m
copies
in
12
days
while
being
available
on
Game
Pass.
Based
on
the
player
numbers,
DOOM:
The
Dark
Ages
appears
to
be
lagging
behind
that,
and
is
therefore
presumably
lagging
behind
it
in
terms
of
copies
sold
as
well.
Now,
we
need
to
be
fair
and
remember
that
it
may
have
absolutely
murdered
on
Game
Pass,
in
which
case
Microsoft
will
still
be
happy
as
they
view
pure
players
numbers
almost
as
much
as
sales
these
days.
Or
at
least,
that’s
the
vibe
I
get
from
them.
But
with
these
numbers,
I’m
not
confident
that
it
has
been
ripping
and
tearing
on
Game
Pass.
And
both
Microsoft
and
id
Software
have
been
quiet
regarding
players
numbers
so
far.
They
haven’t
put
out
a
single
social
media
post
celebrating
any
milestones
or
anything
like
that,
which
is
unusual
for
a
big
first-party
success
because
they
normally
want
to
flaunt
its
engagement
numbers.
Hell,
it
makes
me
question
if
DOOM:
The
Dark
Ages
is
doing
worse
than
DOOM:
Eternal,
which
would
be
a
huge
blow
considering
Eternal
doubled
the
launch
revenue
of
the
2016
DOOM.
At
the
time,
Bethesda
was
quick
to
announce
how
well
Eternal
was
doing,
whereas
now
they
are
silent.
I
also
noted
that
Clair
Obscur:
Expedition
33
has
a
much
higher
amount
of
players
reaching
the
end
of
its
story
than
DOOM:
The
Dark
Ages
does,
which
is
surprising
since
The
Dark
Ages
is
a
far
shorter
game.
Based
on
the
PlayStation
Trophy
data,
11.4%
of
players
have
earned
the
Trophy
for
beating
the
campaign.
For
Expedition
33,
it’s
21.7%.
On
Trueachievements,
it’s
6%
(DOOM:
The
Dark
Ages)
vs
20%
(Expedition
33.)
On
Steam,
we
see
15.9%
(DOOM)
vs
23.5%
(Expedition
33.)
Hopefully
we
will
hear
some
official
stats
from
id
Software,
Microsoft
or
Bethesda
soon
and
fingers
crossed
DOOM:
The
Dark
Ages
is
meeting
expectations
or
exceeding
them,
because
I
always
want
to
see
a
developers
work
payoff.
Regardless,
I
know
I’m
having
a
blast
with
the
game,
so
I’ll
get
back
to
writing
the
review.
