Following its official reveal during Geoff Keighley’s Opening Night Live, it’s been confirmed during an interview with PCgamesN that Doom Eternal’s The Ancient Gods will be available to purchase and play as a standalone title.
Of course, as the first major story expansion, I’m not sure why you’d tackle the first part of a narrative expansion without playing the base game, though it’s a consumer-friendly move that continues Bethesda’s trend as a publisher of releasing its franchise’s expansions as standalone experiences.
“When we look at how many people have played through the game we have a large percentage – higher than 2016 – that have completed it, so you’re always looking at that and seeing how far players make it through your game,” executive producer Marty Stratton says.
“It’s important as we want the DLC to reach as many people as possible. In fact, you don’t even need to own Doom Eternal to buy the DLC and play it.”
Of course, both parts of The Ancient Gods will be available to those who adopted the Doom Eternal Year One Pass which is available locally for $44.95.
There’s no current listing for The Ancient Gods, although it was confirmed in the same article that it’d be available as a standalone purchase for £15.99, meaning Australians might be looking at $30 for each part if the conversion is one for one.
Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods Part One releases on October 20, 2020.