DOOM: The Dark Ages | June 2025 PC Update Highlights

The June 2025 PC Update for **DOOM: The Dark Ages** is a game-changer that promises to elevate your gaming experience to unprecedented heights. Exclusively available for PC users, this update introduces **Path Tracing support** with **Ray Reconstruction** for select NVIDIA GPUs. In addition, players can now dive into a brand-new **Benchmark Mode** designed to showcase their system’s performance across varying settings, alongside several crucial bug fixes. Let’s break this down!

Revolutionizing Graphics: Path Tracing Support

The update heralds the arrival of **Path Tracing**, a stunning feature now officially supported on a range of NVIDIA GPUs. For gamers, this means experiencing light dynamics like never before. By coupling Path Tracing with **DLSS Ray Reconstruction**, enjoy hyper-realistic light bounce modeling that unveils intricate details on material surfaces and reflections—pushing the visual boundaries of what you thought was possible in a **DOOM** game.

For those looking to enhance their gaming experience, ensure your system meets the necessary drivers:
NVIDIA 576.75 or higher.
To enable Path Tracing, navigate to the Video Settings menu, scroll down to the Path Tracing section, and toggle it to “On.” Don’t forget to set **Ray Reconstruction** as the Denoiser. Trust us; you won’t want to miss this!

Warning for Non-NVIDIA Users

While users on alternative GPU models can attempt to enable Path Tracing, be warned: achieving a stable 60 FPS with correct visuals is **not guaranteed**. For the full immersive experience, we highly recommend the right hardware.
To explore further, click here for more insights from NVIDIA.

Unlocking Performance: Benchmark Mode

What’s the point of powerful hardware if you can’t put it to the test? The new **Benchmark Mode** offers a consistent path through select **DOOM: The Dark Ages** levels, allowing players to measure their system performance under various conditions. This is not just a feature; it’s an experience, pushing your system to its limits and showcasing its capabilities.

To dive into Benchmark Mode, simply head over to the Extras section from the Main Menu. Here, you can select from a variety of Benchmark Levels and start gauging your system’s prowess!

Within this mode, players are greeted with real-time graphs showcasing FPS, total frame time, GPU and CPU frame time, and more. Adjust the metrics’ visibility and toggle between FPS and milliseconds for tailored technical insights.

Bug Fixes: A Smoother Experience

This update is not just about shiny new features; it also addresses previous bugs. For instance, an issue causing the game to freeze during cutscenes when Alt + Tabbing with FSR Frame Generation enabled on specific NVIDIA GPUs has been resolved.

Addressing Known Issues

Issue: Some elements may not display correctly in the Harbor of Souls “barge crash” cutscene while running in Path Tracing mode.

Resolution: The team is actively investigating this for future updates.

Issue: Users with Path Tracing enabled may see graphical artifacts on tentacle enemies attached to the walls.

Resolution: Again, this is being looked into for a swift resolution in a coming update.