Doom Eternal will not run at 'true 4K' on Stadia

(Image credit: Bethesda Softworks)

During the Stadia conference at GDC last year, Marty Stratton of id Software said that Doom Eternal would be an ideal game for showcasing the capabilities of the game-streaming platform. "If you're going to prove to the world that you can stream games from the cloud, what better proof that Doom?" he asked the audience, before stating that Doom Eternal "will be capable of running at true 4K resolution with HDR color at an unrelenting 60 frames per second."

That drew applause from the crowd, but it turns out to be not quite accurate. The Doom Eternal launch details page released yesterday, which provided the PC system requirements and unlock times, also notes—down amidst the console information—that "Doom Eternal on Stadia will run at 1080p @60 FPS on HD displays and up-sample to 2160p from 1800p @60 FPS on 4K displays." In other words, not true 4K.

1800p isn't a especially common resolution, although some developers opt for it as a compromise between image quality and performance on consoles: Tripwire Interactive Told Wccftech a few years ago that Killing Floor 2 runs at 1800p on Xbox One X because the frame rate drop at 4K "was a bit too significant," for instance. And it is a big step up from 1080p—but it's not "true 4K."

It's another knock against Stadia, although VentureBeat has an interesting rundown of why it might not be fair to pin the blame on it. The short version is that Doom Eternal is an extremely demanding game: The 4K/60 fps "Ultra-Nightmare" setting requires an Intel Core i9-9900K CPU, an 11GB RTX-2080 GPU, and 16GB RAM. Reducing the graphics options will presumably dial that back somewhat, but there's no escaping the need for serious hardware if you want to run at that resolution. (The Doom Eternal system requirements page doesn't say what graphical settings the Stadia version will run with.)

The 4K situation on Stadia has always been a little hazy. As we noted in a 2019 report, Stadia streams at 4K and 60 fps, but individual games may not run at that resolution: Both Destiny 2 and Red Dead Redemption 2, for example, are upscaled from lower resolutions. But Doom Eternal was presented very specifically last year as a showcase for Stadia's 4K capabilities—something that it now appears incapable of doing.

I've reached out to Bethesda for more information and will update if I receive a reply.

TOPICS
Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

Latest in FPS
Fragpunk FPS
Fragpunk review
Battlefield 1
The best Battlefield game of the last decade is 95% off until Thursday
Grab the brilliant Doom 2016 for its lowest price ever
Rainbow Six Siege year 9 season 2 key art - two Rainbow Six Siege operators facing each other
'Siege 2 was never on the table': Rainbow Six Siege X director explains why the 10-year-old FPS doesn't need a sequel
rainbow six siege sledge
After holding out for 10 years, Rainbow Six Siege is finally going free-to-play (kind of)
rainbow six siege x dual front mode
Rainbow Six Siege is getting its first permanent mode in 10 years, and it throws every Siege rule out the window
Latest in News
Man facing camera
The Day Before studio reportedly sues Russian website for calling infamous disaster-game a 'scam'
Will Poulter holding a CD ROM
'What are most games about? Killing': Black Mirror Season 7 includes a follow-up to 2018 interactive film Bandersnatch
Casper Van Dien in Starship Troopers
Sony, which is making a Helldivers 2 movie, is also making a new Starship Troopers movie, but it's not based on the Starship Troopers movie we already have
Assassin's Creed meets PUBG
Ubisoft is reportedly talking to Tencent about creating a new business entity to manage Assassin's Creed and other big games
Resident Evil Village - Lady Dimitrescu
'It really truly changed my life in every possible way': Lady Dimitrescu actor says her Resident Evil Village role was just as transformative for her as it was for roughly half the internet in 2021
Storm trooper hero
Another live service shooter is getting shut down, this time before it even launched on Steam