Doom: The Dark Ages is shaping up to be one of the most anticipated entries in the legendary first-person shooter series. In case you didn’t know, the game is a prequel. That means we’ll be exploring the events of the world before Doom (2016). Naturally, we could expect it to end where the 2016 title begins. But that’s not the case.
The game’s director has already given us a light spoiler on the game’s ending by saying that the Slayer won’t be trapped in a sarcophagus at the end of The Dark Ages. The reason for this is solid too. The devs have done this intentionally for any other medieval stories we might see in the future.
Doom: The Dark Ages is going to leave room for more games
The most common thing we see with prequels is that they often have to plan the ending beforehand to line up the story to the original. In the case of Doom: The Dark Ages, id Software has chosen to keep it flexible and open-ended. Game director Hugo Martin recently spoke to PC Gamer and made some things clear.
I mean, that would end the Dark Ages, the medieval chapter of the Doom saga. So if we took it all the way to that point, then that would mean that we couldn’t tell any more medieval stories. And I’m not announcing projects or anything other than to just say it’s better to leave it open.
He mentioned that if the game were to end with the Slayer’s entombment, it would just restrict the studio’s ability to tell more medieval stories. So instead, we can expect to have a different ending. One that allows room for expansion in terms of DLCs and any future games that the studio decides to make. Who knows, maybe we’ll even see multiplayer in the future.
Id Software’s decision to avoid this particular plot point isn’t just about keeping the medieval era open. With this, the devs make sure that the franchise remains flexible. Now, we know that the lore has never been the main focus of Doom games, but it is there and it’s become more important in recent games.
The Dark Ages already has post-game content planned too
Despite this change from what we expected, The Dark Ages isn’t throwing out the established timeline of the series. Martin confirmed that the classic backstory remains intact—the Slayer will still eventually be entombed, just not at the end of this particular game. This means there’s more action to look forward to.
Another big reason for avoiding something as set as that is because Doom: The Dark Ages already has post-launch content in the works. Martin confirmed that there are already DLC expansions in the works for the game, so it wouldn’t make sense for the game to end that way regardless. With an open-ended conclusion, we can continue exploring the medieval setting.
The Dark Ages is a prequel, but id Software has made it clear that it isn’t treating it as the final piece of the Doom puzzle. Martin and his team are focused on what’s right in front of us (The Dark Ages), but they aren’t closing the door on future games in this setting. Even if there was a follow-up, we probably wouldn’t see it for years.
Doom: The Dark Ages releases on May 15, 2025 for Xbox Series X|S, PC and with Game Pass.
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