With so much emphasis being played on subscription models, especially by Xbox, many studios have begun to report player numbers rather than copies sold. While it’s understandable to do this, simply because a model like Game Pass cares about metrics other than sales, it can be difficult to gauge a game’s success outside those subscription models these days. DOOM: The Dark Ages is one such example, and according to an analytics firm, it has sold very poorly.
According to Alinea Analytics on LinkedIn, of the 3 million players that were announced as having played the game, only 800,000 actually bought it.
DOOM: The Dark Ages trades Eternal’s breakneck chaos and weapon juggling for slower combat, a shield that parries fireballs, and yes — a rideable dragon. It’s easier, a tad dumber… but somehow still rules. Come for the gore, stay for the giant mechs and Captain America cosplay.
That breaks down further to about 400,000 on Steam, and a mere 200,000 on PlayStation. Another 200,000 is estimated to have been sold on Xbox. That leaves 2.2 million people playing via Game Pass, and we have to remember that some of those people might have only fired up the game and played for five minutes.
The interesting thing is we’ve seen other big releases recently also launch straight onto Game Pass while still selling very well. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 just hit 3.3 million copies sold, for example, while The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is already the 3rd best-selling game of the year. Notably, though, both of those were cheaper to buy.
These numbers fit in with my own speculation about the game’s sales shortly after launch, as low player numbers on Steam and PlayStation seemed to suggested it wasn’t selling well.
Remember, though, we don’t know how reliable this report is or how exactly the numbers are calculated.