DOOM's OG Creator Praises Xbox Game Pass For Removing 'Barriers'
Image: id Software, Xbox

Xbox Game Pass has helped Microsoft's gaming division boom in recent years with its new titles available day one on the service, and while it's not necessarily everyone's cup of tea, there are still millions of fans out there.

This includes industry legend and DOOM creator John Romero, who recently praised Xbox's subscription service during a chat with the YouTube channel 'Xbox Expansion Pass' about the upcoming release of DOOM: The Dark Ages and various other DOOM-related topics.

In response to a question referencing DOOM's "shareware" distribution back in the day, Romero says he loves Game Pass and thinks it's not only working wonders for game companies but also making games easier to access:

John Romero: "I love it, I mean - who doesn't love Game Pass, it's Netflix for games, I mean who doesn't want that? It's great because it's 'try before you buy' - you try something, install it, if you like it, dive in and go buy the expansions - go get the rest of it.

It's a really great way just to try stuff, one thing after another thing, because really the barrier for people to play games is just access to those games, it's like knowing those games exist, and Game Pass is like here they are! It's really great to just have that visibility and discovery right there...it doesn't hurt the game companies that made those games...it's all good, there's nothing bad about it."

He goes on to compare its success to the popularity of streaming services. As for Romero's thoughts about the new direction in DOOM: The Dark Ages - he thinks the work id Software has done on the modern reboot of the series, in general, is "great":

"It's kind of like the Wolfenstein series had to go in a different direction, you know, it's been around for decades 'let's do something new with the story'. I mean, who doesn't love 'Army of Darkness' where you go back into the past with modern weapons and just blow away medieval idiots, you know."

DOOM: The Dark Ages is due to launch "day one" on Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Series X|S on May 15, 2025.

Romero's comments follow Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer reiterating over the past week how the tech giant's goal is to make gaming more accessible and Xbox's IP bigger than ever with its new strategy.

How do you feel about Game Pass going forward? Will you be checking out DOOM: The Dark Ages on Microsoft's service, or purchasing it standalone? Let us know in the comments.