Can a QR Code Run DOOM?

Edited by Spencer Pines

Updated November 4, 2026·5 min read

It’s the age old question that has been pondered ever since the man in the green suit first stepped on Mars in order to quell a demonic invasion;

“Can it run DOOM?”

DOOM is a game that needs little introduction. It’s the quintessential first person shooter of the 90s and has gone on to spawn a franchise with 8 main lines games, plenty of spin offs, and even a movie starring Dwayne The Rock Johnson…though the movie isn’t great…

In the internet age, it has become a challenge among hobbyist software and hardware developers alike to get the classic 1993 DOOM to run on a variety of odd and unusual formats. Some stand outs include DOOM running on a graphic calculator, a DSLR camera, a McDonalds ordering kiosk, a DVD player, and even several landline telephones.

But can the entirety of DOOM be stored within a single QR code? That’s the question I set myself to answer in this piece! So join me as I attempt to find out if a QR code can run DOOM.

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What is a QR code?

A QR code is a type of encoded image containing data that can be scanned by a smart device, like a phone or a tablet. They typically appear as small monochromatic squares made up of even smaller squares or dots, almost like a jumbled up chess board.

Scanning these codes can allow you to access a variety of digital media, like websites, images, and text files, or easily conduct some tasks, like signing into a WiFi network or paying for goods. They can be found just about everywhere, in gyms, schools, libraries, doctors offices, groceries stores and more!

But is a QR code capable of storing the entirety of DOOM? That’s what I tasked myself to figure out!

Could a QR code store DOOM?

To figure out if a single QR code could run DOOM, we first need to know two things; how much data can a QR code store and how big is DOOM in its smallest file size?

Answering the latter first, the smallest version of the original 1993 DOOM with all four episodes I could find was DOOM Squashware Edition, coming in at 1.7MB without music. For just the first episode, it can be as small as 700KB. This is the example we will be the version we will be using.

A standard static QR code can store up to 3KB of data. That’s far under the 700KB necessary for even the no music, single level version of DOOM, so things aren’t looking great already.

Doing some math, it would take over 230 individual QR codes to equal the file size of the smallest version of DOOM, just one level and no music. For a version of DOOM with all four levels but no sound, it would require over 466 individual codes. But if you want all four episodes and music, you would need over 560 QR codes.

Additionally, there’s not really a way you could piece together data from multiple QR codes into one file, the way you could with floppy disks back in the old PC days. So even if you were to spread the data of DOOM across 566 QR codes, there wouldn’t really be a way to play the game.

Verdict

QR code technology is ever evolving, and these little squares are capable of doing quite a lot. However, as of 2026, there is no way to be able to run DOOM simply by scanning a single QR code. It would take over 200 QR codes to even equal the file size of the smallest version of DOOM, and even if you were to take the time to create that many codes, there wouldn’t be a way to scan them all and play the game.

But that doesn’t mean you can store a game similar to DOOM in a QR code. In 2025, game developer Kuber Metha was able to make a game similar to DOOM small enough to fit within a QR code. The game is called Backdrooms and takes clear influence from the DOOM franchise, as well as the viral Backrooms stories.

So while a QR code can’t run DOOM, they can allow you to access a variety of digital content, conduct certain tasks, and make life easier for employees, customers, and business owners alike.

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