DOOM Eternal speedrun clocks in under 25 minutes, devs in awe

If you play DOOM Eternal like a normal person, it should take between 12 and 20 hours, depending on how much non-essential content you do. Speedrunners, however, have beaten the game in under 30 minutes, and the world record right now, held by Xamide, clocks in at 24 minutes, 42 seconds. 

The latest DOOM Eternal speedrun from Xamide was completed in the early hours of the morning on 20th April 2020, as Xamide finally broke the 25-minute mark in style. This is an "any%" speedrun, which means bugs and exploits were used, but it is still incredible to watch.

• Read more: DOOM Eternal is the fastest-selling DOOM game in history

The DOOM Eternal speedrunner, Xamide, caught the attention of the game's developers. 

In a new video from IGN, the game's executive producer Marty Stratton, director Hugo Martin, lead level designer Jerry Keehan, and lead game programmer Evan Eubanks were left in awe after watching Xamide's earlier, record-breaking DOOM Eternal speedrun, which clocked in at 27 minutes.

The developers said "This is unbelievable",followed by "How long does he take to figure this out? This is nuts". 

Speedruns is, for the lack of a better term, a work of gaming art, and dedication. What this DOOM Eternal speedrunner has achieved is an amazing feat, and one has to wonder how long it took this player to figure out the exact steps, as well as which bugs/exploits to use to achieve this. 

Xamide uses Doom Eternal’s Vulkan settings, giving him around 250 fps for most of the run, which is necessary for this record-breaking time. 

The developers are, of course, very impressed. So much so they might even think about adding Easter Eggs created specifically for DOOM Eternal speedrunners to find, instead of fixing bugs being exploited in these speedruns.

Watch the video from IGN where the DOOM Eternal developers react to a mind-blowing speedrun below.