You Can Now Play DOOM Directly On Bitcoin

Ordinals’ Bitcoin NFTs are evolving, advancing from pixelated memes and pet rocks to a playable DOOM clone in a matter of days

article-image

Shutterstock.com/Lauren Elisabeth, modified by Blockworks

share

It happened. Bitcoin runs DOOM.

To the delight of crypto Twitter and Reddit circles, someone has uploaded a cloned version of the 30-year-old video game classic DOOM to the Bitcoin blockchain as an inscription on the network’s own NFT protocol, Ordinals. 

Thanks to a happenstance loophole enabled by Bitcoin’s Taproot upgrade pushed in Nov. 2021, a budget (read: free) version of DOOM has been permanently etched on a single satoshi via block 774526, which was added to the blockchain on Wednesday morning.

Being written to Bitcoin means the functional game will forever live on the immutable blockchain. As long as the network is online, folks can play this version of DOOM.

Web browsers are still required to compile the code, but forcing unconventional technologies to run DOOM is a meme in tech culture. Crafty hackers have made DOOM run via pregnancy tests, calculators, ATMs, smart watches, toasters and Pelotons — even “unhackable” crypto wallets, among other zany conduits.

While the clone is fun in its own blocky-and-basic way, an actual copy of the real DOOM looks destined to make it to the Bitcoin blockchain sometime soon (a Reddit thread from Feb. 2018 suggests DOOM was once playable on Ethereum, however the linked YouTube video is now unavailable).

DOOM on Bitcoin via a single satoshi

Meanwhile, Ordinals continues to pepper conversation amongst Bitcoiners as the community parses what bringing NFTs to the oldest blockchain really means for the future of network and the NFT ecosystem writ large.

The protocol notably just enabled the biggest-ever Bitcoin block to be mined. A high-definition “Taproot wizard” was inscribed to a satoshi this week, clocking a 3.96MB transaction — close to Bitcoin’s 4MB block size limit (originally 1MB but stretchable via SegWit).

As for the DOOM Ordinal, it was only 31.2 KB big. 

Remember: It’s not the size that matters. The ability to run DOOM is far more important.

Updated Feb. 3, 2022 at 3:42 am ET: Added context.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Research Report Templates (19).png

Research

Suilend has grown into the top money market and liquid staking provider on Sui. STEAMM, Suilend’s Superfluid AMM, presents a compelling avenue for growing market share within Sui’s DEX landscape and revenue generation for the protocol. Suilend’s multi-product suite position it well for owning market share across key verticals. While current metrics across the Sui ecosystem are likely inflated due to Sui Foundation incentive programs, SEND trades at amongst the lowest multiples in the lend/borrow sector, suggesting that a bull case for continued growth in the ecosystem may be mispriced.

article-image

Decentralized money was a “very unpopular goal” when concepts were proposed in the ’90s, said Nick Szabo

article-image

Cove aims to deliver “risk-adjusted yield” through curated DeFi vaults

article-image

The best capital markets are open to the most people — and crypto capital markets are open to everyone

article-image

Post-conference musings on Firedancer, Kraken, Solana Mobile and Trump

article-image

Executives expect others to follow SharpLink Gaming’s lead in purchasing an asset that has surged this past month

article-image

After a weekend of tariff policy shifts, investors appear confident that trade deals are underway