Is there multiplayer or co-op in DOOM: The Dark Ages?

With the Xbox Developer Direct 2025 wrapped up, we’ve learned more details about the upcoming DOOM: The Dark Ages title from id Software. It’s removing several features from previous games in the franchise, and many are curious if there’s going to be a multiplayer cooperative addition to this entry.

Traditionally, DOOM is a single-player game with a start and finish. DOOM Eternal, the entry that came out before The Dark Ages in March 2020, had a multiplayer feature where players could face off against each other in player-vs-player deathmatches, with players assuming the role of the Slayer and others as demons. It wasn’t a traditional multiplayer game mode, but some might be wondering if this game mode or others are on their way with the next entry. Can you expect to see multiplayer or cooperative gameplay in DOOM: The Dark Ages?

Does DOOM: The Dark Ages have multiplayer and cooperative features?

We can confirm The Dark Ages won’t have any form of multiplayer or cooperative game modes available when the game launches, and it doesn’t seem like id Software wants to add this in the future. As it stands, The Dark Ages entry will focus entirely on the single-player experience, providing a singular narrative journey for players to dive through as they slay hordes of demons in this science-fiction, medieval setting.

Much of what’s happening in The Dark Ages‘ gameplay design serves to retrace the team’s steps to follow through with what happened in DOOM 2016 rather than align with DOOM Eternal. There’s no multiplayer, with a finer focus on the run-and-gun tactics of the core gameplay, which is the core of many of the earlier DOOM games. We can also see this with the team introducing close-range weaponry, such as multiple melee weapons that we can use, and the shield chainsaw, where we can parry attacks back at demons to unlock devastating combinations.

It makes sense that the thought process of turning the Slayer into an iron tank for The Dark Ages wouldn’t be as advanced as the other entries, though. This is also set to be a prequel game, taking place many years before DOOM 2016 and Eternal events. We can expect to see things mentioned in the codex entries of the previous game, such as the rise of the Slayer and their becoming this mythical being to humanity against the demonic threat.

Although you won’t be able to jump into an online game against friends or play with them against others, the id Software team have been intensely focused on delivering an impactful single-player game. They’ve had the freedom to focus on this part of the entry, and they’ve introduced an open-world element where you can freely bounce around the game as you complete missions. Here, you can use the tools and abilities you unlock to uncover secrets, take on demonic threats, and use any weapon you’ve acquired during your main adventure to decimate the demon armies attacking your many strongholds.

How the open-world experience works and how much you get to explore hasn’t been entirely shared in the lead-up to The Dark Ages. Instead, we’ve only received hints on what this might look like. Before the game releases on May 15, we’ll have a chance to get a better idea of how this works and how many secrets we can cover. If previous DOOM games are an indication, there’s a trove of secrets and abilities to unlock outside the main campaign to make some of the more difficult bosses and demonic encounters much easier.