id Software LLC () is an American

video game developer A video game developer is a broad term for a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a larg ...

based in

Richardson, Texas Richardson is a city in Dallas and Collin counties in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 United States census, the city had a total population of 119,469. Richardson is an inner suburb of the city of Dallas. It is home to the University ...

. It was founded on February 1, 1991, by four members of the computer company Softdisk: programmers

John Carmack John D. Carmack II (born August 20, 1970) is an American computer programmer and video game developer A video game developer is a broad term for a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related discip ...

and

John Romero John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Seco ...

game designer Game design is the art of applying design and aesthetics to create a game for entertainment or for educational, exercise, or experimental purposes. Increasingly, elements and principles of game design are also applied to other interactions, in ...

Tom Hall Tom Hall is an American game designer best known for his work with id Software on titles such as '' Doom'' and '' Commander Keen''. Career Hall attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he earned a B.S. in Computer Science. In 19 ...

, and artist Adrian Carmack. id Software made important technological developments in video game technologies for the PC (running

MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few oper ...

and

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ...

), including work done for the ''

Wolfenstein ''Wolfenstein'' is a series of World War II video games originally developed by Muse Software. The majority of the games follow William "B.J." Blazkowicz, an American Army captain and his fight against the Axis powers. Earlier titles are center ...

'', '' Doom'', and '' Quake'' franchises. id's work was particularly important in

3D computer graphics 3D computer graphics, or “3D graphics,” sometimes called CGI, 3D-CGI or three-dimensional computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data (often Cartesian) that is stored in the computer for t ...

technology and in

game engine A game engine is a software framework primarily designed for the development of video games and generally includes relevant libraries and support programs. The "engine" terminology is similar to the term " software engine" used in the softwar ...

s that are used throughout the

video game industry The video game industry encompasses the Video game development, development, marketing, and Video game monetization, monetization of video games. The industry (economics), industry encompasses dozens of job disciplines and thousands of jobs wor ...

. The company was involved in the creation of the

first-person shooter First-person shooter (FPS) is a sub-genre of shooter video games centered on gun and other weapon-based combat in a first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action through the eyes of the protagonist and controlling the pl ...

(FPS) genre: '' Wolfenstein 3D'' is often considered to be the first true FPS; '' Doom'' is a game that popularized the genre and PC gaming in general; and '' Quake'' was id's first true 3D FPS. On June 24, 2009, ZeniMax Media acquired the company. In 2015, they opened a second studio in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its ...

, Germany.

History

Formation

The founders of id Software –

, and

– met in the offices of Softdisk developing multiple games for Softdisk's monthly publishing, including '' Dangerous Dave''. Along with another Softdisk employee, Lane Roathe, they had formed a small group they called Ideas from the Deep (IFD), a name that Romero and Roathe had come up with. In September 1990, Carmack developed an efficient way to rapidly side-scroll graphics on the PC. Upon making this breakthrough, Carmack and Hall stayed up late into the night making a replica of the first level of the popular 1988 NES game ''

Super Mario Bros. 3 ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' is a platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It was released for home consoles in Japan on October 23, 1988, in North America on February 12, 1990 and in Europe on ...

'', inserting stock graphics of Romero's Dangerous Dave character in lieu of Mario. When Romero saw the demo, entitled ''Dangerous Dave in Copyright Infringement'', he realized that Carmack's breakthrough could have potential. The IFD team moonlighted over a week and over two weekends to create a larger demo of their PC version of ''Super Mario Bros. 3''. They sent their work to Nintendo. According to Romero, Nintendo had told them that the demo was impressive, but "they didn't want their intellectual property on anything but their own hardware, so they told us Good Job and You Can't Do This". While the pair had not readily shared the demo though acknowledged its existence in the years since, a working copy of the demo was discovered in July 2021 and preserved at the Museum of Play. Around the same time in 1990, Scott Miller of Apogee Software learned of the group and their exceptional talent, having played one of Romero's Softdisk games, ''Dangerous Dave'', and contacted Romero under the guise of multiple fan letters that Romero came to realize all originated from the same address. When he confronted Miller, Miller explained that the deception was necessary since Softdisk screened letters it received. Although disappointed by not actually having received mail from multiple fans, Romero and other Softdisk developers began proposing ideas to Miller. One of these was '' Commander Keen'', a side-scrolling game that incorporated the previous work they had done on the ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' demonstration. The first ''Commander Keen'' game, ''

Commander Keen in Invasion of the Vorticons ''Commander Keen in Invasion of the Vorticons'' is a three-part episodic side-scrolling platform video game developed by Ideas from the Deep (a precursor to id Software) and published by Apogee Software in 1990 for MS-DOS. It is the first se ...

'', was released through Apogee in December 1990, which became a very successful

shareware Shareware is a type of proprietary software that is initially shared by the owner for trial use at little or no cost. Often the software has limited functionality or incomplete documentation until the user sends payment to the software developer ...

game. After their first royalty check, Romero, Carmack, and Adrian Carmack (no relation) decided to start their own company. After hiring Hall, the group finished the ''Commander Keen'' series, then hired Jay Wilbur and Kevin Cloud and began working on '' Wolfenstein 3D''. id Software was officially founded by Romero, John and Adrian Carmack and Hall on February 1, 1991. The name "id" came out of their previous IFD; Roathe had left the group, and they opted to drop the "F" to leave "id". They initially used "id" as an initialism for "In Demand", but by the time of the fourth ''Commander Keen'' game, they opted to let "id" stand out "as a cool word", according to Romero. The shareware distribution method was initially employed by id Software through Apogee Software to sell their products, such as the ''Commander Keen'', ''Wolfenstein'' and ''Doom'' games. They would release the first part of their trilogy as shareware, then sell the other two installments by

mail order Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing a telephone call * Placing ...

. Only later (about the time of the release of ''Doom II'') did id Software release their games via more traditional shrink-wrapped boxes in stores (through other game publishers). After ''Wolfenstein 3D''s great success, id began working on '' Doom''. After Hall left the company,

Sandy Petersen Carl Sanford Joslyn "Sandy" Petersen (born September 16, 1955) is an American game designer. He worked at Chaosium, contributing to the development of '' RuneQuest'' and later creating the acclaimed and influential horror role-playing game ''Cal ...

and Dave Taylor were hired before the release of ''Doom'' in December 1993.

The end of the classic lineup

''Quake'' was released on June 22, 1996 and was considered a difficult game to develop due to creative differences. Animosity grew within the company and it caused a conflict between Carmack and Romero, which led the latter to leave id after the game's release. Soon after, other staff left the company as well such as Michael Abrash, Shawn Green, Jay Wilbur, Petersen and Mike Wilson. Petersen claimed in July 2021 that the lack of a team leader was the cause of it all. In fact, he volunteered to take lead as he had five years of experience as project manager in

MicroProse MicroProse is an American video game publisher and developer founded by Bill Stealey, Sid Meier, and Andy Hollis in 1982. It developed and published numerous games, including starting the ''Civilization'' and '' X-COM'' series. Most of their inte ...

but he was turned down by Carmack.

ZeniMax Media and Microsoft

On June 24, 2009, it was announced that id Software had been acquired by ZeniMax Media (owner of Bethesda Softworks). The deal would eventually affect publishing deals id Software had before the acquisition, namely ''Rage'', which was being published through Electronic Arts. ZeniMax received in July a $105 million investment from StrongMail Systems for the id acquisition, it's unknown if that was the exact price of the deal. id Software moved from the "cube-shaped"

Mesquite Mesquite is a common name for several plants in the genus '' Prosopis'', which contains over 40 species of small leguminous trees. They are native to dry areas in the Americas. They have extremely long roots to seek water from very far under g ...

office to a location in

during the spring of 2011. On June 26, 2013, id Software president Todd Hollenshead quit after 17 years of service. On November 22, 2013, it was announced id Software co-founder and Technical Director John Carmack had fully resigned from the company to work full-time at

Oculus VR Reality Labs is a business of Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook Inc.) that produces virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) hardware and software, including virtual reality headsets such as Quest, and online platforms such as Horizon W ...

which he joined as CTO in August 2013. He was the last of the original founders to leave the company. Tim Willits left the company in 2019. ZeniMax Media was acquired by

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation, multinational technology company, technology corporation producing Software, computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at th ...

for in March 2021 and became part of

Xbox Game Studios Xbox Game Studios (previously known as Microsoft Studios, Microsoft Game Studios, and Microsoft Games) is an American video game publisher and part of the Microsoft Gaming division based in Redmond, Washington. It was established in March 2000 ...

Company name

The company writes its name with a lowercase ''id'', which is pronounced as in "did" or "kid", and, according to the book '' Masters of Doom'', the group identified itself as "Ideas from the Deep" in the early days of Softdisk but that, in the end, the name 'id' came from the phrase "in demand". Disliking "in demand" as "lame", someone suggested a connection with

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies explained as originatin ...

's psychological concept of id, which the others accepted. Evidence of the reference can be found as early as ''Wolfenstein 3D'' with the statement "that's id, as in the id, ego, and superego in the psyche" appearing in the game's documentation. Prior to an update to the website, id's History page made a direct reference to Freud.

Key employees

* Kevin Cloud – Artist (1992-2006), Executive producer (2007–present) * Donna Jackson – Office manager / ''"id mom"'' (1994–present) * Marty Stratton – Director of Business Development (1997-2006), Executive Producer (2006–present) Studio Director (2019–present) * Robert Duffy – Chief Technology Officer (1998–present) * Hugo Martin – Creative Director (2013–present)

Former key employees

Arranged in chronological order: *

– Co-founder,

level designer In video games, a level (also referred to as a map, stage, or round in some older games) is any space available to the player during the course of completion of an objective. Video game levels generally have progressively-increasing difficulty ...

, writer, creative director (1991–1993). After a dispute with John Carmack over the designs of ''Doom'', Hall was forced to resign from id Software in August 1993. He joined

3D Realms 3D Realms Entertainment ApS is a video game publisher based in Aalborg, Denmark. Scott Miller (entrepreneur), Scott Miller founded the company in his parents' home in Garland, Texas, in 1987 as Apogee Software Productions to release his game ' ...

soon afterwards. * Bobby Prince – Music composer (1991–1994). A freelance musician who went on to pursue other projects after ''Doom II''. * Dave Taylor –

Programmer A computer programmer, sometimes referred to as a software developer, a software engineer, a programmer or a coder, is a person who creates computer programs — often for larger computer software. A programmer is someone who writes/creates ...

(1993–1996). Taylor left id Software and co-founded Crack dot Com. *

– Co-founder,

, programmer (1991–1996). Romero resigned on August 6, 1996. He established

Ion Storm Ion Storm, L.P. was an American video game developer founded by video game industry veterans John Romero and Tom Hall, both formerly of id Software. Despite an impressive pedigree and high expectations, the company only produced one commercial ...

along with Hall on November 15, 1996. * Michael Abrash – Programmer (1995–1996). Returned to

after the release of ''Quake''. *

Shawn Green Shawn David Green (born November 10, 1972) is an American former Major League Baseball right fielder. Green was a 1st round draft pick and a two-time major league All-Star. He drove in 100 runs four times and scored 100 runs four times, hit ...

– Software support (1991–1996). Left id Software to join Romero at Ion Storm. * Jay Wilbur – Business manager (1991–1997). Left id Software after Romero's departure and joined

Epic Games Epic Games, Inc. is an American video game and software developer and publisher based in Cary, North Carolina. The company was founded by Tim Sweeney as Potomac Computer Systems in 1991, originally located in his parents' house in Potomac, ...

in 1997. *

– Level designer (1993–1997). Left id Software for

Ensemble Studios Ensemble Studios was an American video game developer. It was founded by Tony Goodman in 1994 and incorporated the following year. It borrowed the name of Ensemble Corporation, a consulting firm founded by Goodman in 1990. It was acquired by M ...

in 1997. * Mike Wilson – PR and marketing (1994–1997). Left id Software to become CEO of Ion Storm with Romero. Left a year later to found Gathering of Developers and later

Devolver Digital Devolver Digital, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Austin, Texas, specializing in the publishing of indie games. The company was founded in June 2009 by Nigel Lowrie, Harry Miller, Graeme Struthers, Rick Stults, and Mike Wilson ...

. *

American McGee American James McGee (born December 13, 1972)Birth record for American James McGee - Dallas, Texas, Birth Index, 1903–1997 - Ancestry.com is an American video game designer. He is best known as the designer of ''American McGee's Alice'', its ...

– Level designer (1993–1998). McGee was fired after the release of ''Quake II''. He joined

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted th ...

and created ''

American McGee's Alice ''American McGee's Alice'' is a 2000 third-person action-adventure video game developed by Rogue Entertainment under the direction of designer American McGee and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Games banner. The game was originall ...

''. * Adrian Carmack – Co-founder, artist (1991–2005). Carmack was forced out of id Software after the release of ''Doom 3'' because he would not sell his stock at a low price to the other owners. Adrian sued id Software and the lawsuit was settled during the Zenimax acquisition in 2009. * Todd Hollenshead – President (1996–2013) Left id Software on good terms to work at Nerve Software. *

– Co-founder, technical director (1991–2013). He joined

on August 7, 2013, as a side project, but unable to handle two companies at the same time, Carmack resigned from id Software on November 22, 2013, to pursue Oculus full-time, making him the last founding member to leave the company. *

Tim Willits Tim Willits is the former studio director, co-owner, and level designer of id Software, the American video game developer company. As of August 2019, Willits is the chief creative officer at Saber Interactive. He became a Director of 3D Realm ...

– Level designer (1995– 2001), creative director (2002–2011), studio director (2012–2019) He is now the chief creative officer at

Saber Interactive Saber Interactive Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher founded in 2001 with headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Saber was acquired by Embracer Group in February 2020, making the studio a direct subsidiary. The company ...

Timeline

ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:60 top:0 right:15 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:1991 till:2022 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1991 Colors = id:code value:blue legend:Programming id:design value:green legend:Design id:art value:purple legend:Art id:management value:red legend:Management BarData = bar:JCarmack text:"John Carmack" bar:ACarmack text:"Adrian Carmack" bar:Romero text:"John Romero" bar:Hall text:"Tom Hall" bar:Wilbur text:"Jay Wilbur" bar:Green text:"Shawn Green" bar:Cloud text:"Kevin Cloud" bar:Prince text:"Bobby Prince" bar:Taylor text:"Dave Taylor" bar:Petersen text:"Sandy Petersen" bar:McGee text:"American McGee" bar:Wilson text:"Mike Wilson" bar:Jackson text:"Donna Jackson" bar:Abrash text:"Michael Abrash" bar:Willits text:"Tim Willits" bar:Hollenshead text:"Todd Hollenshead" bar:Stratton text:"Marty Stratton" bar:Duffy text:"Robert Duffy" bar:Martin text:"Hugo Martin" PlotData= width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:JCarmack from:1991 till:2013 color:code bar:ACarmack from:1991 till:2005 color:art bar:Romero from:1991 till:1996 color:code bar:Romero from:1991 till:1996 color:design width:3 bar:Hall from:1991 till:1993 color:design bar:Wilbur from:1991 till:1997 color:management bar:Green from:1993 till:1996 color:code bar:Cloud from:1992 till:end color:art bar:Cloud from:2007 till:end color:management bar:Prince from:1992 till:1994 color:art bar:Taylor from:1993 till:1994 color:code bar:Petersen from:1993 till:1997 color:design bar:McGee from:1994 till:1998 color:design bar:Wilson from:1994 till:1997 color:management bar:Jackson from:1994 till:end color:management bar:Abrash from:1995 till:1996 color:code bar:Willits from:1995 till:2011 color:design bar:Willits from:2002 till:2011 color:management width:3 bar:Willits from:2011 till:2019 color:management bar:Hollenshead from:1996 till:2013 color:management bar:Stratton from:1997 till:end color:management bar:Duffy from:1998 till:end color:code bar:Martin from:2013 till:end color:art bar:Martin from:2013 till:end color:design width:3

Game development

Technology

Starting with their first shareware game series, ''Commander Keen'', id Software has licensed the core source code for the game, or what is more commonly known as the engine. Brainstormed by

, id Software held a weekend session titled "The id Summer Seminar" in the summer of 1991 with prospective buyers including Scott Miller, George Broussard, Ken Rogoway, Jim Norwood and Todd Replogle. One of the nights, id Software put together an impromptu game known as "Wac-Man" to demonstrate not only the technical prowess of the ''Keen'' engine, but also how it worked internally. id Software has developed their own game engine for each of their titles when moving to the next technological milestone, including ''Commander Keen'', ''Wolfenstein 3D'', '' ShadowCaster'', ''Doom'', ''Quake'', ''Quake II'', and ''Quake III'', as well as the technology used in making ''Doom 3''. After being used first for id Software's in-house game, the engines are licensed out to other developers. According to ''Eurogamer.net'', "id Software has been synonymous with PC game engines since the concept of a detached game engine was first popularized". During the mid to late 1990s, "the launch of each successive round of technology it's been expected to occupy a headlining position", with the ''Quake III'' engine being most widely adopted of their engines. However id Tech 4 had far fewer licensees than the

Unreal Engine Unreal Engine (UE) is a 3D computer graphics game engine developed by Epic Games, first showcased in the 1998 first-person shooter game '' Unreal''. Initially developed for PC first-person shooters, it has since been used in a variety of genr ...

from

, due to the long development time that went into ''Doom 3'' which id Software had to release before licensing out that engine to others. Despite his enthusiasm for open source code, Carmack revealed in 2011 that he had no interest in licensing the technology to the mass market. Beginning with ''Wolfenstein 3D'', he felt bothered when third-party companies started "pestering" him to license the id tech engine, adding that he wanted to focus on new technology instead of providing support to existing ones. He felt very strongly that this was not why he signed up to be a game programmer for; to be "holding the hands" of other game developers. Carmack commended Epic Games for pursuing the licensing to the market beginning with Unreal Engine 3. Even though the said company has gained more success with its game engine than id Software over the years, Carmack had no regrets by his decision and continued to focus on open source until his departure from the company in 2013. In conjunction with his self-professed affinity for sharing

source code In computing, source code, or simply code, is any collection of code, with or without comment (computer programming), comments, written using a human-readable programming language, usually as plain text. The source code of a Computer program, p ...

, John Carmack has open-sourced most of the major id Software engines under the

GNU General Public License The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a series of widely used free software licenses that guarantee end user In product development, an end user (sometimes end-user) is a person who ultimately uses or is intended to ulti ...

. Historically, the

for each engine has been released once the code base is 5 years old. Consequently, many home grown projects have sprung up porting the code to different platforms, cleaning up the source code, or providing major modifications to the core engine. ''Wolfenstein 3D'', ''Doom'' and ''Quake'' engine ports are ubiquitous to nearly all platforms capable of running games, such as hand-held PCs, iPods, the PSP, the Nintendo DS and more. Impressive core modifications include DarkPlaces which adds stencil shadow volumes into the original ''Quake'' engine along with a more efficient network protocol. Another such project is

ioquake3 id Tech 3, popularly known as the ''Quake III Arena'' engine, is a game engine developed by id Software for their video game ''Quake III Arena''. It has been adopted by numerous games. During its time, it competed with the Unreal Engine; bot ...

, which maintains a goal of cleaning up the source code, adding features and fixing bugs. Even earlier id Software code, namely for ''

Hovertank 3D ''Hovertank 3D'', also known under a variety of other names (''Hovertank'' or ''Hovertank One''), is a vehicular combat game developed by id Software and published by Softdisk in April 1991. Plot ''Hovertank 3D'' is set during a nuclear war. ...

'' and ''

Catacomb 3D ''Catacomb 3-D'' (also known as ''Catacomb 3-D: A New Dimension'', ''Catacomb 3-D: The Descent'', and ''Catacombs 3'') is a first-person shooter video game, the third in the ''Catacomb'' series, the first of which to feature 3D computer graphics ...

'', was released in June 2014 by Flat Rock Software. The GPL release of the ''Quake III'' engine's source code was moved from the end of 2004 to August 2005 as the engine was still being licensed to commercial customers who would otherwise be concerned over the sudden loss in value of their recent investment. On August 4, 2011,

revealed during his

QuakeCon QuakeCon is a yearly convention held by ZeniMax Media to celebrate and promote the major franchises of id Software and other studios owned by ZeniMax. It includes a large, paid, bring-your-own-computer (BYOC) LAN party event with a competitive ...

2011 keynote that they will be releasing the source code of the ''

Doom 3 ''Doom 3'' is a 2004 survival horror first-person shooter video game developed by id Software and published by Activision. ''Doom 3'' was originally released for Microsoft Windows on August 3, 2004, adapted for Linux later that year, and ported ...

'' engine ( id Tech 4) during the year. id Software publicly stated they would not support the Wii console (possibly due to technical limitations), although they have since indicated that they may release titles on that platform (although it would be limited to their games released during the 1990s). They did the same thing with the

Wii U The Wii U ( ) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo as the successor to the Wii. Released in late 2012, it is the first eighth-generation video game console and competed with Microsoft's Xbox One and Sony's PlayStation 4. Th ...

but for

Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a tablet that can either be docked for use as a home console or used as a portable device, making it a ...

, they collaborated with

Panic Button A panic alarm is an electronic device that can easily be activated to request help during an emergency situation where danger to persons or property exists. It is designed to minimize time until assistance can arrive. A panic alarm is freque ...

starting with 2016's '' Doom'' and '' Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus''. Since id Software revealed their engine

id Tech 5 id Tech 5 is a proprietary game engine developed by id Software. It followed its predecessors, id Tech 1, 2, 3 and 4, all of which had subsequently been published under the GNU General Public License. It was seen as a major advancement over i ...

, they call their engines "

id Tech id Tech is a series of separate game engines designed and developed by id Software. Prior to the presentation of the id Tech 5-based game ''Rage'' in 2011, the engines lacked official designation and as such were simply referred to as the '' D ...

", followed by a version number. Older engines have retroactively been renamed to fit this scheme, with the ''Doom'' engine as id Tech 1.

Linux gaming

id Software was an early pioneer in the Linux gaming market, and id Software's

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which i ...

games have been some of the most popular of the platform. Many id Software games won the Readers' and Editors' Choice awards of

Linux Journal ''Linux Journal'' (''LJ'') is an American monthly technology magazine originally published by Specialized System Consultants, Inc. (SSC) in Seattle, Washington since 1994. In December 2006 the publisher changed to Belltown Media, Inc. in Housto ...

. Some id Software titles ported to Linux are '' Doom'' (the first id Software game to be ported), '' Quake'', ''

Quake II ''Quake II'' is a 1997 first-person shooter video game developed by id Software and published by Activision. It is the second installment of the ''Quake'' series, but not a direct sequel to '' Quake''. The game's storyline is continued in its e ...

'', ''

Quake III Arena ''Quake III Arena'' is a 1999 multiplayer-focused first-person shooter developed by id Software. The third installment of the ''Quake'' series, ''Arena'' differs from previous games by excluding a story-based single-player mode and focusing prima ...

'', '' Return to Castle Wolfenstein'', '' Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory'', ''

'', ''

Quake 4 ''Quake 4'' is a 2005 military science fiction first-person shooter video game developed by Raven Software and published by Activision. It is the fourth title in the ''Quake'' series, after the multiplayer ''Quake III Arena'', and a sequel to ...

'', and '' Enemy Territory: Quake Wars''. Since id Software and some of its licensees released the source code for some of their previous games, several games which were not ported (such as '' Wolfenstein 3D'', '' Spear of Destiny'', '' Heretic'', ''

Hexen Hexen can refer to: * ''N''-Ethylhexedrone, a stimulant drug * '' Hexen: Beyond Heretic'', a 1995 dark fantasy video game by id Software and Raven Software * ''Hexen II'', a 1997 video game and sequel to the first Hexen. * Hexen, a thrash metal b ...

'', ''

Hexen II ''Hexen II'' is a dark fantasy first-person shooter (FPS) video game developed by Raven Software and published by id Software. It is the third game in the ''Hexen''/'' Heretic'' series, and the last in the ''Serpent Riders'' trilogy. Using a mo ...

'', and ''

Strife Strife may refer to: Mythology *Eris (mythology), in Greek mythology the goddess of discord, whose name means 'strife' *Bellona (goddess), Roman counterpart of Eris, and a war goddess *Enyalius, a son of Eris and god of strife * Tano Akora, god of ...

'') can run on Linux and other

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ef ...

s natively through the use of

source port A source port is a software project based on the source code of a game engine that allows the game to be played on operating systems or computing platforms with which the game was not originally compatible. Description Source ports are often cr ...

s. '' Quake Live'' also launched with Linux support, although this, alongside

OS X macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and la ...

support, was later removed when changed to a standalone title. The tradition of porting to Linux was first started by

Dave D. Taylor Dave D. Taylor is an American game programmer, best known as a former id Software employee and noted for his work promoting Linux gaming. Early life He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Science degree in electri ...

, with David Kirsch doing some later porting. Since ''

'', Linux porting had been handled by

Timothee Besset Timothée Besset is a French software programmer, (also known as TTimo), best known for supporting Linux, as well as some Macintosh, ports of id Software's products. He has been involved with the game ports of various id properties over the past ...

. The majority of all id Tech 4 games, including those made by other developers, have a Linux client available, the only current exceptions being ''

'' and '' Brink''. Similarly, almost all of the games utilizing the ''Quake II'' engine have Linux ports, the only exceptions being those created by

('' Daikatana'' later received a community port). Despite fears by the Linux gaming community that

would not be ported to that platform, Timothee Besset in his blog stated "I'll be damned if we don't find the time to get Linux builds done". Besset explained that id Software's primary justification for releasing Linux builds was better code quality, along with a technical interest in the platform. However, on January 26, 2012, Besset announced that he had left id. John Carmack has expressed his stance with regard to Linux builds in the past. In December 2000 Todd Hollenshead expressed support for Linux: "All said, we will continue to be a leading supporter of the Linux platform because we believe it is a technically sound OS and is the OS of choice for many server ops." However, on April 25, 2012, Carmack revealed that "there are no plans for a native Linux client" of id's most recent game, ''

Rage Rage may refer to: * Rage (emotion), an intense form of anger Games * Rage (collectible card game), a collectible card game * Rage (trick-taking card game), a commercial variant of the card game Oh Hell * ''Rage'' (video game), a 2011 first-per ...

''. In February 2013, Carmack argued for improving emulation as the "proper technical direction for gaming on Linux", though this was also due to ZeniMax's refusal to support "unofficial binaries", given all prior ports (except for ''Quake III Arena'', via

Loki Software Loki Software, Inc. (Loki Entertainment) was an American video game developer based in Tustin, California, that porting, ported several video games from Microsoft Windows to Linux. It took its name from the Norse deity Loki. Although successful ...

, and earlier versions of ''Quake Live'') having only ever been unofficial. Carmack didn't mention official games ''Quake: The Offering'' and ''Quake II: Colossus'' ported by id Software to Linux and published by

Macmillan Computer Publishing Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publi ...

USA. Despite no longer releasing native binaries, id was an early adopter of Stadia, a

cloud gaming Cloud gaming, sometimes called gaming on demand or gaming-as-a-service or game streaming, is a type of online gaming that runs video games on remote servers and streams them directly to a user's device, or more colloquially, playing a game rem ...

service powered by Debian Linux servers, and the cross-platform Vulkan API.

Games

''Commander Keen''

'', a

platform game A platform game (often simplified as platformer and sometimes called a jump 'n' run game) is a sub-genre of action game, action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform game ...

in the style of those for the

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in American ...

, was one of the first

games with smooth horizontal-scrolling. Published by Apogee Software, the title and follow-ups brought id Software success as a shareware developer. It is the series of id Software that designer

is most affiliated with. The first ''Commander Keen'' trilogy was released on December 14, 1990.

''Wolfenstein''

The company's breakout product was released on May 5, 1992: '' Wolfenstein 3D'', a

(FPS) with smooth 3D graphics that were unprecedented in computer games, and with violent gameplay that many gamers found engaging. After essentially founding an entire genre with this game, id Software created '' Doom'', '' Doom II: Hell on Earth'', '' Quake'', ''

'', ''

'', and ''

''. Each of these first-person shooters featured progressively higher levels of graphical technology. ''Wolfenstein 3D'' spawned a prequel and a sequel: the prequel called '' Spear of Destiny'', and the second, '' Return to Castle Wolfenstein'', using the

id Tech 3 id Tech 3, popularly known as the ''Quake III Arena'' engine, is a game engine developed by id Software for their video game ''Quake III Arena''. It has been adopted by numerous games. During its time, it competed with the Unreal Engine; bot ...

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ...

. A third ''Wolfenstein'' sequel, simply titled ''

'', was released by Raven Software, using the id Tech 4

. Another sequel, named '' Wolfenstein: The New Order''; was developed by MachineGames using the

engine and released in 2014, with it getting a prequel by the name of '' Wolfenstein: The Old Blood'' a year later; followed by a direct sequel titled '' Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus'' in 2017.

''Doom''

Eighteen months after their release of ''Wolfenstein 3D'', on December 10, 1993, id Software released '' Doom'' which would again set new standards for graphic quality and graphic violence in computer gaming. ''Doom'' featured a

sci-fi Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel univ ...

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction ** Japanese horror, Japanese horror fiction **Korean horror, Korean horror fiction * Horror film, a film genre *Horror comics, comic books focusing o ...

setting with graphic quality that had never been seen on personal computers or even

video game console A video game console is an electronic device that outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can be played with a game controller. These may be home consoles, which are generally placed in a permanent location connected to ...

s. ''Doom'' became a cultural phenomenon and its violent theme would eventually launch a new wave of

criticism Criticism is the construction of a judgement about the negative qualities of someone or something. Criticism can range from impromptu comments to a written detailed response. , ''"the act of giving your opinion or judgment about the good or bad q ...

decrying the dangers of violence in video games. ''Doom'' was ported to numerous platforms, inspired many knock-offs, and was eventually followed by the technically similar '' Doom II: Hell on Earth''. id Software made its mark in video game history with the

release of ''Doom'', and eventually revisited the theme of this game in 2004 with their release of ''

''. John Carmack said in an interview at QuakeCon 2007 that there would be a ''

Doom 4 ''Doom'' is a 2016 first-person shooter game developed by id Software and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is the first major installment in the Doom (franchise), ''Doom'' series since 2004's ''Doom 3''. Players take the role of an unnamed ...

''. It began development on May 7, 2008. '' Doom 2016'', the fourth installation of the ''Doom'' series, was released on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on May 13, 2016, and was later released on Nintendo Switch on November 10, 2017. In June 2018, the sequel to the 2016 ''Doom'', ''

Doom Eternal ''Doom Eternal'' is a first-person shooter game developed by id Software and published by Bethesda Softworks. The sequel to '' Doom'' (2016), and the sixth main game in the ''Doom'' series, it was released on March 20, 2020, for Windows, Pl ...

'' was officially announced at

E3 2018 The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2018 (E3 2018) was the 24th E3, during which hardware manufacturers, software developers, and publishers from the video game industry presented new and upcoming products to the attendees, primarily retailers a ...

with a teaser trailer, followed by a gameplay reveal at

in August 2018.

''Quake''

On June 22, 1996, the release of '' Quake'' marked the third milestone in id Software history. ''Quake'' combined a cutting edge fully 3D engine, the ''Quake'' engine, with a distinctive art style to create critically acclaimed graphics for its time. Audio was not neglected either, having recruited

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN and stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor was the only permanent member of the ban ...

frontman

Trent Reznor Michael Trent Reznor (born May 17, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and composer. He serves as the lead vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and principal songwriter of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, whi ...

to facilitate unique sound effects and ambient music for the game. (A small homage was paid to Nine Inch Nails in the form of the band's logo appearing on the ammunition boxes for the nailgun weapon.) It also included the work of Michael Abrash. Furthermore, ''Quakes main innovation, the capability to play a deathmatch (competitive gameplay between living opponents instead of against computer-controlled characters) over the Internet (especially through the add-on '' QuakeWorld''), seared the title into the minds of gamers as another smash hit. In 2008, id Software was honored at the 59th Annual

Technology & Engineering Emmy Award The Technology and Engineering Emmy Awards, or Technology and Engineering Emmys, are one of two sets of Emmy Awards that are presented for outstanding achievement in engineering development in the television industry. The Technology and Enginee ...

s for the pioneering work ''Quake'' represented in user modifiable games. id Software is the only game development company ever honored twice by the

National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) is an American professional service organization founded in 1955 for "the advancement of the arts and sciences of television and the promotion of creative leadership for artistic, ed ...

, having been given an Emmy Award in 2007 for creation of the 3D technology that underlies modern shooter video games. The ''Quake'' series continued with ''

'' in 1997. Activision purchased a 49% stake in id Software, making it a second party which took publishing duties until 2009. However, the game is not a storyline sequel, and instead focuses on an assault on an alien planet, Stroggos, in retaliation for Strogg attacks on

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surf ...

. Most of the subsequent entries in the ''Quake'' franchise follow this storyline. ''

'' (1999), the next title in the series, has minimal plot, but centers around the "Arena Eternal", a gladiatorial setting created by an alien race known as the Vadrigar and populated by combatants plucked from various points in time and space. Among these combatants are some characters either drawn from or based on those in ''Doom'' ("

Doomguy The Doomguy (also spelt Doom Guy, as well as referred to as the Doom Marine, Doom Slayer or just the Slayer in ''Doom'' (2016) and ''Doom Eternal'') is a fictional character and the protagonist of the ''Doom'' video game franchise of first-person ...

"), ''Quake'' (Ranger, Wrack), and ''Quake II'' (Bitterman, Tank Jr., Grunt, Stripe). '' Quake IV'' (2005) picks up where ''Quake II'' left off – finishing the war between the humans and Strogg. The spin-off '' Enemy Territory: Quake Wars'' acts as a prequel to ''Quake II'', when the Strogg first invade Earth. ''Quake IV'' and ''Enemy Territory: Quake Wars'' were made by outside developers and not id. There have also been other spin-offs such as Quake Mobile in 2005 and '' Quake Live'', an internet browser based modification of ''Quake III''. A game called ''Quake Arena DS'' was planned and canceled for the Nintendo DS. John Carmack stated, at

2007, that the ''

'' engine would be used for a new ''Quake'' game.

''Rage''

Todd Hollenshead announced in May 2007 that id Software had begun working on an all new series that would be using a new engine. Hollenshead also mentioned that the title would be completely developed in-house, marking the first game since 2004's ''

'' to be done so. At 2007's WWDC, John Carmack showed the new engine called

. Later that year, at

2007, the title of the new game was revealed as ''

''. On July 14, 2008, id Software announced at the 2008 E3 event that they would be publishing ''Rage'' through

, and not id's longtime publisher

Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one ...

. However, since then ZeniMax has also announced that they are publishing ''Rage'' through Bethesda Softworks. On August 12, 2010, during Quakecon 2010, id Software announced ''Rage'' US ship date of September 13, 2011, and a European ship date of September 15, 2011. During the keynote, id Software also demonstrated a ''Rage'' spin-off title running on the iPhone. This technology demo later became ''Rage HD''. The game was ultimately released in October 2011. On May 14, 2018, Bethesda Softworks announced ''

Rage 2 ''Rage 2'' is a 2019 first-person shooter video game developed by Avalanche Studios in conjunction with id Software and published by Bethesda Softworks. The game is the sequel to the 2011 game '' Rage''. The game was released for Microsoft Windo ...

'', a co-development between id Software and

Avalanche Studios Avalanche Studios Group is a Swedish video game developer and publisher based in Stockholm. It is a parent company that includes Avalanche Studios, Expansive Worlds, and Systemic Reaction. Founded by Linus Blomberg and Christofer Sundberg in Ma ...

Other games

During its early days, id Software produced much more varied games; these include the early 3D first-person shooter experiments that led to '' Wolfenstein 3D'' and '' Doom'' – ''

'' and ''

''. There was also the '' Rescue Rover'' series, which had two games – ''Rescue Rover'' and ''Rescue Rover 2''. Also there was

's '' Dangerous Dave'' series, which included such notables as the tech demo (''In Copyright Infringement'') which led to the '' Commander Keen'' engine, and the decently popular ''

Dangerous Dave in the Haunted Mansion ''Dangerous Dave in the Haunted Mansion'' (also known as ''Dangerous Dave 2'' and under the Froggman title, ''Rooms of Doom'') is a 1991 sequel of the computer game '' Dangerous Dave''. It was created by John Romero, John Carmack, Adrian Ca ...

''. ''In the Haunted Mansion'' was powered by the same engine as the earlier id Software game '' Shadow Knights'', which was one of the several games written by id Software to fulfill their contractual obligation to produce games for Softdisk, where the id Software founders had been employed. id Software has also overseen several games using its technology that were not made in one of their IPs such as '' ShadowCaster'', (early-

id Tech 1 id Tech 1, also known as the ''Doom'' engine, is the game engine that powers the id Software games '' Doom'' and '' Doom II: Hell on Earth''. It is also used in ''Heretic'', '' Hexen: Beyond Heretic'', '' Strife: Quest for the Sigil'', '' Hacx: ...

), '' Heretic'', '' Hexen: Beyond Heretic'' (id Tech 1), ''

'' ( ''Quake'' engine), and ''

Orcs and Elves ''Orcs & Elves'' is an adventure game, adventure role-playing video game, role-playing video game for the mobile phone and Nintendo DS. It was developed by id Software and Fountainhead Entertainment and published by EA Mobile and licensed by Ninte ...

'' ('' Doom RPG'' engine).

Other media

id Software has also published novels based on the ''Doom'' series ''Doom'' novels. After a brief hiatus from publishing, id resumed and re-launched the novel series in 2008 with

Matthew J. Costello Matthew John Costello (born 1948) is an American writer specializing in the genres of horror, gothic, and science fiction. His articles have appeared in publications including the ''Los Angeles Times'' and ''Sports Illustrated''. He has scripted ...

's (a story consultant for ''

'' and now ''

'') new ''Doom 3'' novels: '' Worlds on Fire'' and '' Maelstrom''. id Software became involved in film development when they oversaw the film adaption of their '' Doom'' franchise in 2005. In August 2007, Todd Hollenshead stated at QuakeCon 2007 that a '' Return to Castle Wolfenstein'' movie is in development which re-teams the '' Silent Hill'' writer/producer team, Roger Avary as writer and director and Samuel Hadida as producer. A new ''Doom'' film, titled '' Doom: Annihilation'', was released in 2019, although id itself stressed its lack of involvement.

Controversy

id Software was the target of controversy over two of their most popular games, '' Doom'' and the earlier '' Wolfenstein 3D''. More recently in 2022, id Software found themselves mired in a controversy concerning libel against Doom Eternal's composer.

''Doom''

''Doom'' was notorious for its high levels of gore and

occultism The occult, in the broadest sense, is a category of esoteric supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving otherworldly agency, such as magic and mysticism a ...

along with

satanic Satanic may refer to: * Satan * Satanism * ''Satanic'' (2006 film), a 2006 American horror film * ''Satanic'' (2016 film), a 2016 American horror film * Operation Satanic, when the DGSE bombed the Rainbow Warrior in Auckland Harbour See also * ...

imagery, which generated controversy from a broad range of groups. Yahoo! Games listed it as one of the top ten most controversial games of all time. The game again sparked controversy throughout a period of

school shooting A school shooting is an attack at an educational institution, such as a primary school, secondary school, high school or university, involving the use of firearms. Many school shootings are also categorized as mass shootings due to multiple ...

s in the United States when it was found that

Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold Eric David Harris (April 9, 1981 – April 20, 1999) and Dylan Bennet Klebold (; September 11, 1981 – April 20, 1999) were an American mass murder duo who perpetrated the Columbine High School massacre on April 20, 1999. Harris and Klebold ...

, who committed the

Columbine High School massacre On April 20, 1999, a school shooting and attempted bombing occurred at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado, United States. The perpetrators, twelfth grade, 12th grade students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered 12 students and ...

in 1999, were avid players of the game. While planning for the massacre, Harris said that the killing would be "like playing ''Doom''", and "it'll be like the LA riots, the Oklahoma bombing,

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...

, ''

Duke Nukem ''Duke Nukem'' is a video game series named for its main character, Duke Nukem. Created by the company Apogee Software Ltd. (now 3D Realms) as a series of video games for personal computers, the series expanded to games released for various co ...

'' and ''Doom'' all mixed together", and that his shotgun was "straight out of the game". A rumor spread afterwards that Harris had designed a ''Doom'' level that looked like the high school, populated with representations of Harris's classmates and teachers, and that Harris practiced for his role in the shootings by playing the level over and over. Although Harris did design ''Doom'' levels, none of them were based on

Columbine High School Columbine High School (CHS) is a public high school in Columbine, Colorado, United States, in the Denver metropolitan area. It is part of the Jefferson County Public Schools district. In 1999, it became the scene of an infamous mass shoo ...

. While ''Doom'' and other violent video games have been blamed for nationally covered school shootings, 2008 research featured by Greater Good Science Center shows that the two are not closely related.

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools ...

researchers Cheryl Olson and Lawrence Kutner found that violent video games did not correlate to school shootings. The

United States Secret Service The United States Secret Service (USSS or Secret Service) is a Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Homeland Security, Department of Homeland Security charged with co ...

and

United States Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Departme ...

analyzed 37 incidents of school violence and sought to develop a profile of school shooters; they discovered that the most common traits among shooters were that they were male and had histories of depression and attempted suicide. While many of the killers—like the vast majority of young teenage boys—did play video games, this study did not find a relationship between gameplay and school shootings. In fact, only one-eighth of the shooters showed any special interest in violent video games, far less than the number of shooters who seemed attracted to books and movies with violent content.

''Wolfenstein 3D''

As for ''Wolfenstein 3D'', due to its use of Nazi symbols such as the

swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious and cultural symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures, now also widely recognized for its appropriation by the Nazi Party and by neo-Nazis. I ...

and the anthem of the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

, ''

Horst-Wessel-Lied The "" ("Horst Wessel Song"; ), also known by its opening words "" ("Raise the Flag", ), was the anthem of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) from 1930 to 1945. From 1933 to 1945, the Nazis made it the co-national anthem of Germany, along with the first sta ...

'', as theme music, the PC version of the game was withdrawn from circulation in Germany in 1994, following a verdict by the Amtsgericht München on January 25, 1994. Despite the fact that Nazis are portrayed as the enemy in ''Wolfenstein'', the use of those symbols is a federal offense in Germany unless certain circumstances apply. Similarly, the

Atari Jaguar The Atari Jaguar is a home video game console developed by Atari Corporation and released in North America in November 1993. Part of the fifth generation of video game consoles, it competed with the 16-bit Sega Genesis, the Super NES and t ...

version was confiscated following a verdict by the Amtsgericht Berlin Tiergarten on December 7, 1994. Due to concerns from Nintendo of America, the

Super NES The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in E ...

version was modified to not include any swastikas or Nazi references; furthermore, blood was replaced with sweat to make the game seem less violent, and the attack dogs in the game were replaced by giant mutant rats. Employees of id Software are quoted in ''The Official DOOM Player Guide'' about the reaction to ''Wolfenstein'', claiming it to be ironic that it was morally acceptable to shoot people and rats, but not dogs. Two new weapons were added as well. The Super NES version was not as successful as the PC version.

Soundtrack dispute

In May of 2020, after the Doom Eternal Original Soundtrack was released, there was a serious backlash to the Doom Eternal OST and accusations of low quality work that did not match composer Mick Gordon's usual standards. On April 19, Gordon confirmed on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

that it was not his work, and Marty Stratton subsequently posted on May 20 a 2,500-word

open letter An open letter is a letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally. Open letters usually take the form of a letter addressed to an individ ...

Reddit Reddit (; stylized in all lowercase as reddit) is an American social news news aggregator, aggregation, Review site#Rating site, content rating, and Internet forum, discussion website. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") subm ...

blaming Gordon for everything that went wrong with the process of creating music for the soundtrack. Following this, public outcry against Gordon reached a level where he received explicit death threats and graphic messages of intent to harm him and his family. Gordon's message accounts, servers, and phones were allegedly inundated with abuse to extreme levels, seriously impacting his mental health. On November 9, 2022, Mick published a 14,000-word article on Medium explaining his side of the story as a defensive rebuttal of the nine outlined accusations in Stratton's post (described as "an extensive series of lies"), substantiated with various forms of evidence including photographs of emails, receipts, and file metadata to verify his claims. It included claims that Gordon had yet to receive over half of his payment for his work and awards from the soundtrack's nominations at

The Game Awards 2020 The Game Awards 2020 was an award show that honored the best video games of 2020. It was produced and hosted by Geoff Keighley, and took place on December 10, 2020. The preshow ceremony was hosted by Sydnee Goodman. Unlike previous Game Awards ...

Stratton had reportedly claimed to deliver on Gordon's behalf; that his name had been listed on the OST's pre-order for weeks before Bethesda had contracted him to work on it just 48 hours before the game's release; Mossholder had been composing an alternate version of the OST as early as August 2019, and in response to request from Gordon's lawyers for Stratton's Reddit post to be removed, he was offered six figures in exchange for a lifetime gag order, but never the possibility of Stratton's defamatory post being removed. On November 16, 2022 Bethesda released a statement backing Marty Stratton, Chad Mossholder, and everyone in the id software team. Their statement further claimed that they had evidence to rebut Gordon's claims, without releasing mentioned evidence, and expressed concern that his statement enticed harassment and violence towards the team.

People

In 2003, the book '' Masters of Doom'' chronicled the development of id Software, concentrating on the personalities and interaction of John Carmack and John Romero. Below are the key people involved with id's success.

John Carmack

Carmack's skill at 3D programming is widely recognized in the software industry and from its inception, he was id's

lead programmer In software development, a lead programmer is responsible for providing technical guidance and mentorship to a team of software developers. Alternative titles include ''development lead'', ''technical lead'', ''lead programmer'', or ''lead applic ...

. On August 7, 2013, he joined

, a company developing

virtual reality headset A virtual reality headset (or VR headset) is a head-mounted device that provides virtual reality for the wearer. VR headsets are widely used with VR video games but they are also used in other applications, including simulators and trainers. VR ...

s, and left id Software on November 22, 2013.

John Romero

John Romero saw the horizontal scrolling demo ''Dangerous Dave in Copyright Infringement'' and immediately had the idea to form id Software on September 20, 1990. Romero pioneered the game engine licensing business with his "id Summer Seminar" in 1991 where the Keen4 engine was licensed to Apogee for Biomenace. John also worked closely with the DOOM community and was the face of id to its fans. One success of this engagement was the fan-made game ''Final DOOM'', published in 1996. John also created the control scheme for the FPS, and the abstract level design style of DOOM that influenced many 3D games that came after it. John added par times to Wolfenstein 3D, and then DOOM, which started the phenomenon of Speedrunning. Romero wrote almost all the tools that enabled id Software and many others to develop games with id Software's technology. Romero was forced to resign in 1996 after the release of '' Quake'', then later formed the company

. There, he became infamous through the development of '' Daikatana'', which was received negatively from reviewers and gamers alike upon release. Afterward, Romero co-founded The Guildhall in Dallas, Texas, served as chairman of the CPL eSports league, created an MMORPG publisher and developer named Gazillion Entertainment, created a hit Facebook game named Ravenwood Fair that garnered 25 million monthly players in 2011, and started Romero Games in Galway, Ireland in 2015. Romero Games Both Tom Hall and John Romero have reputations as designers and idea men who have helped shape some of the key PC gaming titles of the 1990s.

Tom Hall

Tom Hall was forced to resign by id Software during the early days of ''Doom'' development, but not before he had some impact; for example, he was responsible for the inclusion of teleporters in the game. He was let go before the shareware release of ''Doom'' and then went to work for Apogee, developing ''

Rise of the Triad ''Rise of the Triad: Dark War'' is a first-person shooter video game, developed and published by Apogee Software (now 3D Realms) in 1995. The player can choose one of five different characters to play as, each bearing unique attributes such a ...

'' with the "Developers of Incredible Power". When he finished work on that game, he found he was not compatible with the ''

Prey Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill the ...

'' development team at Apogee, and therefore left to join his ex-id Software compatriot John Romero at

. Hall has frequently commented that if he could obtain the rights to '' Commander Keen'', he would immediately develop another Keen title.

Sandy Petersen

Sandy Petersen was a level designer for 19 of the 27 levels in the original ''Doom'' title as well as 17 of the 32 levels of ''Doom II''. As a fan of H.P. Lovecraft, his influence is apparent in the Lovecraftian feel of the monsters for ''Quake'', and he created ''Inferno'', the third "episode" of the first ''Doom''. He was forced to resign from id Software during the production of ''Quake II'' and most of his work was scrapped before the title was released.

American McGee

American McGee was a

for ''Doom II'', ''The Ultimate Doom'', ''Quake'', and ''Quake II''. He was asked to resign after the release of ''Quake II'', and he then moved to

where he gained industry notoriety with the development of his own game ''

''. After leaving Electronic Arts, he became an independent entrepreneur and game developer. McGee headed the

independent game development An indie game, short for independent video game, is a video game typically created by individuals or smaller development teams without the financial and technical support of a large game publisher, in contrast to most "AAA" (triple-A) games. ...

studio Spicy Horse in Shanghai, China from 2007 to 2016.

References

Literature

* Kushner, David (2003). '' Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture'', New York: Random House. .

External links

* {{Authority control American companies established in 1991 American corporate subsidiaries 1991 establishments in Louisiana Microsoft subsidiaries 2009 mergers and acquisitions Companies based in Richardson, Texas Video game companies based in Texas Video game companies established in 1991 Video game companies of the United States Video game development companies ZeniMax Media