Getting blasted in Doom Eternal looks way better.
id Software
Doom Eternal amped up the metal last year by adding more enemies and gruesome weapons and ramping up the gore. On Tuesday, developer Id Software released Update 6, which brought the 2020 game into the next gen for those who have PS5 or Xbox Series consoles. The update adds graphics options for HDR 10, ray tracing and the ability to run at 120 frames per second.
However, PlayStation owners who downloaded the free upgrade found one glaring issue: They couldn’t transfer their save data from their PS4. Hardcore fans of the Doom series who played Doom Eternal for hours on their PS4 will have to start from scratch if they upgrade to the PS5 version.
Why this omission for PS5 owners and not Xbox Series owners? Id Software points to the transfer feature not being available until the later stage of production on the PS5 upgrade.
“It was too late for us to make that switch,” said Billy Zhan, lead engine programmer at Id Software. “We have the things from battle mode that we carry over into profiles, how would you handle trophies and things … but the API (application programming interface) just weren’t available in our production cycle to fully take advantage of that.”
Sony released the save data transfer feature with its recent software development kit for the PS5, which Zhan said was too late into the process.
Save data transfers from the PS4 to PS5 have been an issue with some games. RGG Studio developer of Yakuza: Like a Dragon said last September that its game wouldn’t have the save data transfer feature when the PS5 upgrade would be available, which was in March. Final Fantasy VII Remake required players to boot up the PS4 version of the game, upload the final they wanted to the cloud and then start the PS5 version of the game to download the save data.
Xbox Series players, on the other hand, can quickly jump to an upgraded version of the game with the Xbox One save data without the extra work via the Smart Delivery feature.
Sony didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about the save data transfer issue.
As for when this issue gets addressed in Doom Eternal, the Id Software team didn’t have a timeframe, but it’s investigating the issue and hopes to have an answer soon.
“We want the experience to be best on all platforms,” said Marty Stratton, executive producer at Id Software. “We would definitely work it into an update, as long as it’s possible.”
On Friday, Stratton provided an update regarding a multiplayer mode shown last year called Invasion mode, which would let players invade others’ games to play as the demons. He said the team has redirected its focus to a single-player horde mode and would have more info at next month’s QuakeCon.