DOOM’s Bold QuakeCon 2025 Reveal: Custom Survival and Mod Support Signal a New Era

QuakeCon is always a breeding ground for FPS spectacle, but 2025’s event handed DOOM fans more meat than I expected. Sure, the surprise Heretic + Hexen rerelease turned some heads, but once again, id Software’s heavy metal demon slayer refused to rest on its blood-stained laurels. Instead, two big announcements landed: a massive new survival mode for DOOM: The Dark Ages, and-finally-full official support for the modding community in DOOM Eternal. This isn’t just another patch; this is id doubling down on what actually matters to real DOOM fans.

Key Takeaways for DOOM Fans

• Custom Survival Mode (“The Morgue”) for The Dark Ages is all about replayability and player expression.
• DOOM Eternal’s mod support goes official-650 mods are ready to radically expand the game.
• PC remains the mod playground, with new launch tools for safety and ease of use.
• id’s update cadence is picking up, hinting at broader support for long-term player communities.

“The Morgue”: DOOM’s Take on Infinite Carnage, but On Your Terms

Let’s be real: survival or horde modes aren’t new to shooters, and even DOOM’s 2016 SnapMap dabbled in the concept. But The Dark Ages’ Morgue Mode feels like id learned what made those modes actually addictive. This isn’t just “survive as long as you can” on a single map—it’s about customization and challenge crafted to your taste: pick your arena, select the music (blasting Mick Gordon, anyone?), choose your demonic foes and their numbers, set wave counts, difficulty, and time limits. This much control lets skilled players test themselves in ultra-specific ways (I’m already imagining speedrun categories or wild fan challenges). Plus, id is promising even more options and features down the road—exactly the iterative support the DOOM community thrives on.

Update 2: Not Just Survival—Gameplay Tweaks for Hardcore Slayers

While The Morgue steals the show, Update 2 isn’t content with just a single headline. Weapon switch speeds are faster (finally—how many times have you fumbled a rocket switch mid-fight?), attack charge interrupts bring risk-reward back to melee brawls, and the new time-slowing slider puts animation control in player hands. It’s the kind of quality-of-life polish that hardcore DOOM fans actually notice, not just bullet points made for press releases. These are real tools for pushing skill ceilings—and you can bet the speedrunning community is already theorycrafting around them.

DOOM Eternal’s Mod Support Finally Goes Legit

Now, let’s talk about the modding scene—DOOM’s beating heart since the days of BBS WAD files. The 2020 launch of DOOM Eternal was thrilling, but honestly, id’s cautious embrace of mods was always frustrating. Mods were in open beta forever, leaving players to cobble together tools and hope for the best. That ends at QuakeCon 2025. Mod support is now official and robust, with 650 mods available (for now) via PC platforms like Steam, all wrapped in a safe, seamless launcher. You can launch vanilla or modded DOOM Eternal separately—no more risking your main save or tangled config files. That’s an actual win for every player who’s had to nuke their install because a mod went sideways.

What really matters here is the signal: id Software isn’t just tolerating mods, they’re lifting them up as integral content. This could genuinely extend DOOM Eternal’s lifespan for years—especially given the creativity of this fanbase. If you remember how classic DOOM’s wildest mods (Brutal DOOM, anyone?) kept that 1993 shooter relevant, you know how game-changing this is. Sure, it’s PC-only for now, but that’s always been the heartland of modding anyway.

Why These Moves Actually Matter—And What’s Next

If you’re a DOOM fan, these aren’t just feature-bloat updates. They’re the kind of pro-player, pro-community steps we’re always clamoring for—with enough genuine, customizable challenge to keep high-level players engaged and enough modding support to birth wild new content for the next generation. Meanwhile, seeing id invest in community-driven longevity gives me hope: we might be entering a golden era of “DOOM as platform,” not just another cycle of sequel churn.

TL;DR

DOOM The Dark Ages’ Morgue Mode is the hardcore, endlessly replayable survival challenge fans have been waiting for, while DOOM Eternal’s robust new mod support all but guarantees a creative renaissance on PC. If you care about skill, customizability, or community-driven content, QuakeCon 2025’s DOOM drops truly deliver.