DOOM: The Dark Ages is the highly anticipated prequel to DOOM (2016) and DOOM Eternal. It is set to release on May 15, 2025. While everyone is ready to experience the next chapter in the franchise, those intending to play on Valve’s Steam Deck may encounter significant performance issues. Here’s what you need to know!
Note that the tests on the Steam Deck have been completed by Steam Deck HQ. You can check out their review if you want to learn more in-depth details.
Performance Issues on Steam Deck
Both DOOM (2016) and DOOM Eternal ran rather smoothly on the Steam Deck. However, DOOM: The Dark Ages struggles to deliver a playable experience on the handheld device. According to SteamDeckHQ, even at low settings and a resolution of 1280×720, the game performs poorly. In more demanding sections, such as “The Siege Part 1,” performance drops further. It’s requiring a resolution of 960×540 to achieve around 30 FPS, resulting in a blurry and pixelated image.
Technical Demands and Ray Tracing Requirements
The game’s high system requirements contribute to its incompatibility with the Steam Deck. DOOM: The Dark Ages requires a ray tracing-capable GPU, with minimum specifications including an NVIDIA RTX 2060 Super or AMD RX 6600, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB NVMe SSD. These demands exceed the Steam Deck’s capabilities, making it challenging.
Potential Workaround: Cloud Gaming
For those determined to play DOOM: The Dark Ages on the Steam Deck, cloud gaming services like NVIDIA’s GeForce Now offer a potential solution. By streaming the game from powerful servers, you can bypass the hardware limitations of the Steam Deck. However, this approach requires a stable internet connection and may not provide the same responsiveness as native gameplay.
The Steam community has expressed disappointment over the game’s performance on the Steam Deck. Players have shared their frustrations in forums, pointing out the contrast with previous DOOM titles that ran well on the device. Some have called for optimization patches or settings tailored for the Steam Deck to improve playability.
Until official optimizations are released, the handheld device may not provide the desired gameplay experience for this title. If you have the possibility to play it on another device, we highly recommend you do so.