Doom: The Dark Ages gameplay details, release date, and system requirements revealed

Highly anticipated: As Bethesda and id Software start the final hype cycle before the launch of Doom: The Dark Ages on May 15, the official PC system requirements reveal that ray tracing, a once-optional feature that dramatically reduces frame rates, is increasingly becoming mandatory in major game releases. Notably, the game also requires an NVMe SSD.

Doom: The Dark Ages, the upcoming prequel to id Software's 2016 revival of the classic FPS franchise, is now available for pre-order and is set to launch on May 15 on Steam, the Microsoft Store, Game Pass, Xbox series consoles, and PlayStation 5. Customers who pre-purchase the premium edition can begin playing on May 12.

The system requirements confirm that the game requires a GPU capable of hardware-assisted ray tracing, even at the lowest graphics settings. Other examples of this trend include Star Wars Outlaws, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, and the ...