Doom Eternal ‘could hit 1000 fps’ on the right hardware, says id Software

Upcoming gore-heavy shooter, Doom Eternal, could hit 1000 frames per second on the right hardware, according to one of the game’s developers.

Billy Kahn, lead engine programmer at id Software, told IGN: “If you have the hardware right, it could hit 1000 frames per second.” He added that there was “really no upper limit”. Considering that plenty of gamers are still striving for the holy grail of a consistent 60 fps, 1000 sounds pretty amazing.

It’s purely theoretical at this stage, but Kahn has come closer than most to that 1000 fps ceiling. He said: “I’ve had some hardware here locally that we built just for testing, where we had scenes running in the 400 frames per second.”

Right now, these aren’t numbers that gamers will actually get to enjoy when the game is released on March 20, or even on next-gen consoles. However, it does mean that game is future-proofed and won’t look dated when future machines can crank out these amazing fps levels.

Related: PS5 vs Xbox Series X – Which upcoming console will rule the next generation?

Even without 1000 fps – we’re pretty excited for Doom Eternal. When I got hands-on with the game in January, it was impressive to see the improvements id Software has made on the 2016 title.

Gory, gripping combat, an extensive tree for levelling and upgrades and plenty of atmospheric settings make Doom Eternal one of the most appealing releases of the year so far.

Director, Marty Stratton, said: “There’s kind of a misconception about Doom that it is kind of a mindless corridor shooter. Really great guns, great gore, lots of blood and always triple-A quality, but mindless sometimes, and I want to make it clear that is not the game we have made.

“We have done everything to basically elevate every piece of the game, to not be repetitive. A big place we’ve done that is in the combat, we like to call it combat chess because you constantly make decisions. The speed of those decisions and the quality of those decisions is what’s going to make you a master.”

Doom Eternal will launch across PS4, Xbox One and PC on March 20, 2020. Right alongside Animal Crossing: New Horizons, with both titles forming a charming friendship of sorts in recent weeks.