Doom Eternal actually won’t run in “true 4K” on Google Stadia

Doom Eternal developer id Software has confirmed that the game will not run in 4K on Google Stadia, despite stating that it would run in “true 4K” during the original Stadia reveal press conference. According to a launch details blog post, it will instead run at 1080p and 60 frames per second on HD displays, and up-samples to 2160p from 1800p at 60 frames per second on 4K displays.

Since Doom Eternal is one of the leading titles for Stadia and was used to demo the platform, this is surprising news. When Stadia was unveiled at the Game Developers Conference in 2019, Marty Stratton, id’s boss, explicitly stated that the game would run in true 4K. “We couldn’t be happier to be bringing Doom Eternal to Stadia, and are thrilled to announce that the game will be capable of running at true 4K resolution, with HDR color at an unrelenting 60 frames per second,” he said. 

Here’s how Doom Eternal will run on various consoles: 

• Stadia – up-sampled to 2160p from 1800p @60 FPS
• Xbox One X –up-sample to 4K (2160p) from 1800p @60 FPS
• PlayStation 4 Pro –up-sampled to 4K (2160p) from 1440p @60 FPS
• Xbox One and Xbox One S – up-sampled to 1080p @60 FPS from 900p
• PlayStation 4 – 1080p @60 FPS

Despite stating that Stadia’s GPU has more power than Xbox One X and PS4 Pro combined (Xbox One X has a 6TF GPU, while Stadia has a semi-custom 10.7TF version of the Vega56), the level of performance is only going to match that of the Xbox One X. 

This could be due to id toning down particular graphic settings on consoles, but neither Google nor id has explained the sudden change. 

Doom Eternal will be released on Google Stadia, Xbox One, PS4, and PC on March 20.