Husqvarna has joined in on one of the internet’s best long-running gags and added the ability to play Doom on a robot lawn mower.
Yes, you read that correctly. It’s not an early April Fool’s joke. The company known for power tools and mowers has officially brought the classic 1993 video game to its range of robot lawn mowers.
For years, people have programmed Doom to run on devices absolutely not designed to play video games. Inspired by a combination of shenaniganery and clever problem-solving, there are online communities passionately dedicated to the pursuit of running an old first-person shooter on anything they can.
Just look at the popular r/itrunsdoom subreddit for a glimpse into this wonderful subculture. Toothbrushes, Fire TV Sticks, and cameras are just some of the devices confirmed to run the Doom. Someone even got Doom running on a Myki ticket validator, which should be worthy of an OAM, frankly. And, of course, there’s even a website dedicated to answering the age-old question: can it run Doom?
Doom robot lawn mower update comes soon
It’s usually folks with programming savvy and too much time on their hands that do this sort of thing. Not this time. Labelled “one hell of an update“, Husqvarna recently announced that Doom is coming to its Automower Nera robots starting in April.
Husqvarna decided upon the unexpected crossover following a one-off showing at a DreamHack event in 2023. Once installed, you can play Doom on compatible robot mowers by using the on-device controls – no additional peripherals required. As the Husqvarna announcement aptly puts it, you can “mow down demons” with a robot lawn mower. Incredible.
You can register now to play the game on your mower, which will be made available via a software update through the Automower Connect app. And yes, it’s available to Australians.
Unfortunately, it’s only a limited-time gimmick. A software update scheduled for 9 September will remove the game from the robot lawn mowers. It’s proof that all good things do indeed come to an end.
Still, it’s a hilarious cross-promotion that cleverly appeals to the tinkerers and tech enthusiasts of the world.
