Someone Just Put Legendary '90s Video Game Doom on Dogecoin

Doom, the popular and influential first-person shooter video game first released in 1993, is now available on the Dogecoin network, thanks to a relatively new protocol that lets developers stash large amounts of data on a blockchain.

"Ð is for Doginals! Ð is for DOOM on Dogecoin," developer @minidogeart, who put the game on Dogecoin, posted at launch. "Now inscribed on Dogecoin blockchain forever!"

That means the game's deployment on Doginals fetches all of its gaming data entirely from the data stored on the Dogecoin network. It does not rely on any other sources outside of the network.

Doom was among the first computer games that went viral in the 1990s. It was deployed on Doginals on its 30th anniversary, as per @minidogeart. The version is so-called shareware, which contains nine levels of the game that can be published without the possibility of legal issues.

Since May, developers have been able to put art collections and games on Dogecoin, helping its ecosystem extend beyond a dog-themed meme token using inscription technology.

Inscriptions are digital entries that store images, videos, audio and text files that store data on the blockchain. Inscriptions are dubbed "Doginals" on Dogecoin – similar to Bitcoin Ordinals – and are a relatively new feature of the blockchain ecosystem.

Such features can open up flourishing ecosystems on a blockchain, adding to a token's fundamentals and contributing to an increase in prices on heightened demand. In May, hype for Dogecoin inscriptions bumped transactional volumes on the network to lifetime peaks, leading to a 10% gain in the cryptocurrency's price.

Transaction activity has cooled in the past month but is seemingly ramping up again. Data shows activity has risen to 420,000 transactions as of Wednesday from 90,000 earlier this month.

Developers such as @minidogeart see inscription and Ordinals usage to eventually bump interest in the broader Dogecoin ecosystem, which expands beyond DOGE to collections, games and tokens issued on the Dogecoin blockchain.

"The advent of Doginals on the Dogecoin blockchain, akin to Ordinals on Bitcoin, has the potential to revolutionize the way we view blockchain transactions," @minidogeart said in an X message to CoinDesk. "Embedding digital assets directly into the proof of ownership, Doginals add significant intrinsic value to each transaction. This transformation elevates each exchange from a mere financial transaction to a permanent and secure record of digital asset ownership."

"The inscription of DOOM on the Dogecoin blockchain demonstrates that even a compact game can be permanently preserved on the blockchain, highlighting the capability for a broad spectrum of digital content to be securely managed and stored," they added.

Jan. 25 (08:56 UTC): Adds clarification in the DEK that Ordinals started on Bitcoin.