Doom beta dates revealed, new multiplayer footage unleashed

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Gore and beastly new demons—everything we have any right to expect from new Doom footage. But wait! It's accompanied by the dates for the closed beta, so clear your calendar: March 31, 10pm ET - April 3, 11:59pm ET is going to get messy.

The bad news is that this beta will only be available to those who pre-ordered Wolfenstein: The New Order. At the present there doesn't seem to be any way to register or otherwise get your name on a waiting list, and the existence of an open beta is still unhelpfully "to be determined by Bethesda in its discretion". Full instructions on how to redeem a code or activate the beta (if you bought Wolfenstein through Steam) can be found here.

Doom will trundle out to the rest of us May 13.

Edit: I've swapped out the old link to the beta info that came with the press release for a new, shinier one that has the specifics on what you'll be playing, namely:

  • Maps: Heatwave and Infernal
  • Game Modes: 6v6 Team Deathmatch and Warpath
  • Demon: Revenant
  • Weapons: Rocket Launcher, Plasma Rifle, Super Shotgun, Vortex Rifle, Static Rifle, Heavy Assault Rifle, and Lightning Gun
  • Power Weapons: Gauss Cannon
  • Equipment: Frag Grenade, Personal Teleporter, Siphon Grenade

There are system requirements too, though Bethesda stresses that these aren't final and that the GeForce GTX 750 Ti and mobile GPUs are not supported for the beta.

Minimum Spec (720p)

  • Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 (64-bit versions only)
  • Intel Core i5-2400 or better / AMD FX-8320 or better
  • 8 GB RAM
  • NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 (2GB) or better / AMD Radeon HD 7870 (2GB) or better
  • Up to 22GB HDD space
  • Steam account
  • Broadband internet connection

Recommended Spec (1080p)

  • Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 (64-bit versions only)
  • Intel Core i7-3770 or better / AMD FX-8350 or better
  • 8GB RAM
  • NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 (4GB) or better / AMD Radeon R9 290 (4GB) or better
  • Up to 22GB HDD space
  • Steam account
  • Broadband internet connection