UK retailer Game is selling Doom Eternal ahead of its official release date on March 20.
While the title doesn’t officially launch forXbox One,PS4andPCuntil Friday, it’s available now at Game stores nationwide.
An employee at one Game store told VGC the retailer has been given approval by publisherBethesdato sell the shooter early.
Game’s PR team has yet to reply to a request for comment lodged on Tuesday evening.
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread across the globe, citizens are being advised to practice social distancing and there’s been a sharp increase in the number of non-essential retail businesses either choosing to close or being told to do so by authorities.
Bearing this in mind, it’s unsurprising companies want to maximise sales while stores remain open. Game employees we spoke to at several branches said they were unaware of how long their stores would continue to remain open for business.
Game Mania, a retailer which operates in the Netherlands and Belgium, has alsoannouncedthat customers who’ve pre-ordered copies ofDoom EternalandAnimal Crossing: New Horizons(which officially launches on Friday too) can pick up their copies in store today.
The retailer is due to close all its stores on Thursday “to help prevent further spread of the virus”. It’s unclear if customers who haven’t pre-ordered a copy of either game can simply turn up and buy one, as is the case with Doom at Game stores in the UK.
VGC’sDoom Eternal reviewsays “Id delivers another relentlessly entertaining single-player campaign that’s one hell of a stress buster,” while ourAnimal Crossing: New Horizons reviewsaid the “comforting life sim is a tranquil haven at a time the world needs it most”.
