Yep, DOOM Eternal is playable on a refrigerator, thanks of the power of the xCloud service and a little dash of ingenuity.
Getting a game to run on an appliance or object is a part of modern life now, especially as the pandemic led to a lot of people working from home and suddenly gaining a lot of free time. It's sort of like climbing a tree (remember those?), or scaling a wall, just for the achievement and heady rush of exceeding your own expectations. Once you're at the top, surveying your surroundings, you think to yourself, "Nice. Now what?"
Richard Mallard, also known as TwistedLootGoblin on Twitch, has managed to get DOOM Eternal going on a Samsung smart fridge. Now, it's usually the original DOOM that hits the headlines when a player runs the game through a pregnancy test, or a McDonald's cash register, or even a calculator powered by a sack of old potatoes. The 1993 game is substantially less technically complex and demanding than its successors, and so seeing it appear on the screens of random objects is rather comical.
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However, it is xCloud, the Xbox cloud gaming service, that has enabled Mallard to play as the Doom Slayer through the smart fridge in his kitchen. Presumably sideloading the Xbox Game Pass app into the fridge's roster of programs, he's pretty chuffed with himself, and rightly so. One thing to note is that the app runs in portrait mode (a fridge door is also in portrait mode, when you think about it), but the game appears in the correct aspect ratio, and runs relatively smoothly.
The practicality of playing DOOM Eternal on your fridge is one to pick apart. The positive is that you're right next to the snacks, drinks, milk with which to brew tea or coffee, or even a chilly alcoholic beverage if you do partake. Pausing the game briefly to check on the hash browns in the oven is a breeze, and you don't have to worry whether you've accidentally left the stove on. Nevertheless, you might be squinting your eyes to see the detail on the UI and in the game, as it is compressed due to the shape of the fridge door. Also, what if someone wants to grab the hummus and carrot sticks? You'll need to sidestep with the door, then sidestep back, and then sidestep again when they realise they'd like some celery sticks too.
It's cool, but I'd probably stick to playing it on your PC or console for the time being, rather than your fridge. The game was recently added to Xbox Game Pass, after the announcement that Bethesda's parent company had been snapped up by Microsoft. That deal will also see all future Bethesda games become available through the service from day one, including Starfield.
Topics: Doom Eternal, DOOM