id Software LLC is an American company that creates video games. It is based in Richardson, Texas, and was established on February 1, 1991, by four people who worked at a computer company called Softdisk. These individuals included programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer Tom Hall, and artist Adrian Carmack.
id Software contributed to major advancements in video game technology for personal computers that used MS-DOS and Windows operating systems. The company worked on several important game series, including Wolfenstein, Doom, and Quake. Their work was especially influential in the development of 3D computer graphics and game engines, which are widely used in the video game industry. id Software played a key role in creating the first-person shooter (FPS) genre, a type of game where players view the action from the perspective of the character. Wolfenstein 3D is often seen as the first true FPS game, Doom helped make the genre and PC gaming popular, and Quake was id Software’s first fully 3D FPS game.
On June 24, 2009, ZeniMax Media purchased the company. In 2015, id Software opened a second studio in Frankfurt, Germany.
History
The founders of id Software—John Carmack, Tom Hall, and John Romero—met in the offices of Softdisk in Shreveport, Louisiana. They created games for Softdisk's monthly publishing, including Dangerous Dave. Along with another Softdisk employee, Lane Roathe, they formed a group called Ideas from the Deep (IFD), a name chosen by Romero and Roathe. In September 1990, Carmack developed a fast way to display side-scrolling graphics on a PC. After this breakthrough, Carmack and Hall worked late into the night to make a copy of the first level of the 1988 NES game Super Mario Bros. 3, using graphics from Dangerous Dave instead of Mario. When Romero saw the demo, called Dangerous Dave in Copyright Infringement, he realized Carmack's work had potential. The IFD team worked overtime for a week and two weekends to create a larger demo of their PC version of Super Mario Bros. 3. They sent it to Nintendo. According to Romero, Nintendo said the demo was impressive but refused to allow their intellectual property to be used on other hardware. They told the team, "Good job, but you can't do this." A working copy of the demo was later discovered in July 2021 and preserved at the Museum of Play.
Around the same time in 1990, Scott Miller of Apogee Software learned about the group's talent after playing Dangerous Dave. He contacted Romero using fake fan letters, all sent from the same address. When Romero confronted Miller, Miller explained that the deception was needed because Softdisk filtered incoming letters. Though disappointed, Romero and other Softdisk developers began sharing ideas with Miller. One idea was Commander Keen, a side-scrolling game based on their earlier work on the Super Mario Bros. 3 demo. The first Commander Keen game, Commander Keen in Invasion of the Vorticons, was released by Apogee in December 1990 and became a successful shareware game. After receiving their first royalty check, Romero, Carmack, and Adrian Carmack (no relation) decided to start their own company. After hiring Hall, they finished the Commander Keen series, then hired Jay Wilbur and Kevin Cloud to work on Wolfenstein 3D. id Software was officially founded by Romero, John and Adrian Carmack, and Hall on February 1, 1991. The name "id" came from their previous group name, IFD. They dropped the "F" to make "id." Initially, they used "id" as an abbreviation for "In Demand," but later, they let "id" stand alone as a "cool word." In September 1991, the company moved to Madison, Wisconsin. In April 1992, it relocated to an office in Mesquite, Texas.
id Software used the shareware method to sell games through Apogee Software, including Commander Keen, Wolfenstein, and Doom. They released the first part of a trilogy as shareware and sold the other parts by mail. Later, around the time of Doom II, they began selling games in shrink-wrapped boxes in stores through other publishers.
After Wolfenstein 3D became successful, id Software began working on Doom. After Hall left the company, Sandy Petersen and Dave Taylor were hired before Doom was released in December 1993.
Quake was released on June 22, 1996. It was difficult to develop due to creative differences. Tensions grew between Carmack and Romero, leading Romero to leave after Quake was released. Other staff members, including Michael Abrash, Shawn Green, Jay Wilbur, Petersen, and Mike Wilson, also left. Petersen said in July 2021 that the lack of a team leader caused the problems. He offered to lead, but Carmack refused.
On June 24, 2009, id Software was acquired by ZeniMax Media (owner of Bethesda Softworks). This affected publishing deals, such as Rage, which was previously published by Electronic Arts. ZeniMax received $105 million from StrongMail Systems for the acquisition, though the exact price of the deal is unknown. While the companies shared technology, Carmack refused major changes like using id Tech for The Elder Scrolls or creating Doom RPGs and Fallout first-person shooters. In 2011, id Software moved from its Mesquite office to a new location in Richardson, Texas.
On June 26, 2013, id Software president Todd Hollenshead resigned after 17 years. On November 22, 2013, co-founder and Technical Director John Carmack resigned to work full-time at Oculus VR, where he became CTO in August 2013. He was the last of the original founders to leave the company.
Tim Willits left id Software in 2019. ZeniMax Media was acquired by Microsoft for $7.5 billion in March 2021 and became part of Microsoft Gaming.
The company writes its name with a lowercase "id," pronounced like "did" or "kid." According to the book Masters of Doom, the group was initially called "Ideas from the Deep" but later chose "id" as a reference to Freud's psychological concept of the "id." This connection is mentioned in Wolfenstein 3D with the phrase "that's id, as in the id, ego, and superego in the psyche."
Key personnel and roles:
– 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
Game development
id Software began its journey with its first shareware game series, Commander Keen. The company licensed the core source code for the game, known as the engine. John Romero helped brainstorm the idea, and in the summer of 1991, id Software held a weekend event called "The id Summer Seminar." Prospective buyers, including Scott Miller, George Broussard, Ken Rogoway, Jim Norwood, and Todd Replogle, attended. During one night, id Software created a quick game called "Wac-Man" to show the technical abilities of the Keen engine and how it worked.
id Software developed its own game engine for each major title, including Commander Keen, Wolfenstein 3D, ShadowCaster, Doom, Quake, Quake II, Quake III, and the technology used in Doom 3. After using the engines for their own games, id Software licensed them to other developers. Eurogamer.net noted that id Software has been closely linked to PC game engines since the concept of a separate engine became popular. In the mid-1990s, each new engine release was highly anticipated, with Quake III's engine being the most widely used. However, id Tech 4 had fewer licensees than Epic Games' Unreal Engine, partly because Doom 3 took a long time to develop before the engine was released.
John Carmack, who supported open-source code, said in 2011 he had no interest in licensing the technology to the mass market. Starting with Wolfenstein 3D, he felt uncomfortable when third-party companies asked to license the id Tech engine. He wanted to focus on new technology rather than supporting older ones. Carmack praised Epic Games for making the Unreal Engine available to the public. Despite Epic Games' greater success with its engine, Carmack had no regrets about his decision and continued focusing on open-source projects until he left the company in 2013.
John Carmack shared most of id Software's major engines under the GNU General Public License (GPL). Historically, the source code for each engine was released after five years. This led to many projects that adapted the code for different platforms, improved the code, or made major changes to the engines. Ports of Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Quake engines are now available on many platforms, including handheld PCs, iPods, the PSP, and the Nintendo DS. Examples of modifications include GZDoom, which added modern graphics features to the Doom engine, and DarkPlaces, which improved the Quake engine with better shadows and networking. Other projects, like Yamagi Quake II and ioquake3, focused on cleaning up the code and fixing bugs. Earlier id Software games, such as Hovertank 3D and Catacomb 3D, were released in 2014 by Flat Rock Software.
The source code for the Quake III engine was released in August 2005 instead of the planned end of 2004 because the engine was still being sold to commercial customers. In 2011, John Carmack announced during a QuakeCon event that the source code for the Doom 3 engine (id Tech 4) would be released that year.
id Software said it would not support the Wii console, possibly due to technical challenges, though it later considered releasing older games on the platform. For the Wii U, the company followed the same policy, but with the Nintendo Switch, it partnered with Panic Button to release Doom and Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus.
After introducing id Tech 5, id Software renamed its engines to "id Tech" followed by a version number. Older engines, like the Doom engine, were retroactively labeled as id Tech 1.
IMF, or "id music file," is an audio format created by id Software for the AdLib sound card. It works like MIDI by defining musical notes but does not support sound effects. IMF files send specific commands to the AdLib's OPL2 chip, which uses FM synthesis to create sound. Modern games no longer use IMF due to its limited features and lower quality.
Many songs in early id Software games, such as Commander Keen and Wolfenstein 3D, were composed in IMF format by Bobby Prince. Other developers, like Apogee Software, also used IMF in games like Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure and Duke Nukem II.
id Software was a leader in Linux gaming, with several of its games winning awards from Linux Journal. Titles like Doom, Quake, Quake II, Quake III Arena, and Doom 3 were ported to Linux. Even games not officially ported, such as Catacomb 3D and Wolfenstein 3D, can now run on Linux through source ports. Quake Live also supported Linux, though this feature was later removed.
The tradition of porting games to Linux began with Dave D. Taylor and later continued by Zoid Kirsch. Timothee Besset handled Linux porting for Quake III Arena and later games. Most id Tech 4 games, including those made by other developers, have Linux versions, except for Wolfenstein and Brink. Quake II games also have Linux ports, except for some created by Ion Storm. Despite concerns about id Tech 5 not being ported, Besset stated that Linux builds would be made. However, Besset left id Software in 2012.
John Carmack supported Linux in the past. In 2000, Todd Hollenshead said id Software would continue supporting Linux because it is a strong operating system.
Games
Commander Keen in Invasion of the Vorticons was a platform game similar to those on the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was one of the first MS-DOS games to have smooth side-scrolling movement. Published by Apogee Software, this game and its sequels helped id Software become successful as a shareware developer. Tom Hall, a game designer, is most known for creating the Commander Keen series. The first three games in the series were released on December 14, 1990.
The most successful product from id Software was released on May 5, 1992: Wolfenstein 3D. This was a first-person shooter game with advanced 3D graphics that had never been seen before in computer games. It had violent gameplay that many players enjoyed. This game helped create a new type of game, and id Software later made Doom, Doom II: Hell on Earth, Quake, Quake II, Quake III Arena, Doom 3, and Quake 4. Each of these games used better graphics than the last. Wolfenstein 3D had a prequel called Spear of Destiny and a sequel called Return to Castle Wolfenstein, which used the id Tech 3 engine. A third sequel, simply called Wolfenstein, was made by Raven Software using the id Tech 4 engine. Another sequel, Wolfenstein: The New Order, was created by MachineGames using the id Tech 5 engine and released in 2014. It had a prequel called Wolfenstein: The Old Blood released the next year, followed by a direct sequel, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, in 2017.
Eighteen months after releasing Wolfenstein 3D, on December 10, 1993, id Software released Doom. This game set new standards for graphics and violent gameplay in computer games. Doom had a science fiction and horror setting with graphics that had never been seen on personal computers or video game consoles. It became very popular and led to new discussions about the effects of violent video games. Doom was released on many platforms, inspired many similar games, and was followed by Doom II: Hell on Earth. The shareware release of Doom helped id Software become famous in video game history. The company revisited the theme of Doom in 2004 with Doom 3. John Carmack said in an interview at QuakeCon 2007 that a new Doom game, Doom 4, would be made. Development began on May 7, 2008. Doom 2016, the fourth game in the series, was released on May 13, 2016, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It was later released on Nintendo Switch on November 10, 2017. In June 2018, a sequel called Doom Eternal was announced at E3 2018 with a teaser trailer, followed by a gameplay reveal at QuakeCon in August 2018.
On June 22, 1996, id Software released Quake, which was a major milestone in the company's history. Quake used a new 3D engine called the Quake engine and had a unique art style that made its graphics stand out for its time. The game also had special sound effects and music created by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails. A small tribute to the band was included in the game, with their logo appearing on ammunition boxes for a weapon called the nailgun. Michael Abrash also worked on the game. Quake's biggest innovation was the ability to play deathmatch games online, especially through an add-on called QuakeWorld. This feature made the game very popular among players.
In 2008, id Software was recognized at the 59th Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards for its work on Quake, which helped make user-modifiable games possible. id Software is the only game company ever to win two Emmy Awards from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The first was in 2007 for creating 3D technology used in modern shooter games.
The Quake series continued with Quake II in 1997. This game was not a direct sequel but focused on a mission to attack an alien planet called Stroggos after Strogg attacks on Earth. Most later games in the Quake series followed this storyline. Quake III Arena (1999) had little story but centered on a gladiatorial arena called "Arena Eternal," where combatants from different times and places fought. Some characters in the game were based on those from Doom, Quake, and Quake II. Quake IV (2005) continued the story from Quake II, ending the war between humans and Strogg. A prequel to Quake II called Enemy Territory: Quake Wars was made by outside developers and not by id Software. Other spin-offs include Quake Mobile (2005) and Quake Live, a web-based version of Quake III. A game called Quake Arena DS was planned for the Nintendo DS but canceled. John Carmack said at QuakeCon 2007 that the id Tech 5 engine would be used for a new Quake game.
In May 2007, Todd Hollenshead announced that id Software was working on a new game series using a new engine. This game would be developed entirely in-house, the first such project since Doom 3 in 2004. At WWDC 2007, John Carmack introduced the new engine called id Tech 5. Later that year, at QuakeCon 2007, the new game was named Rage.
On July 14, 2008, id Software announced that it would publish Rage through Electronic Arts, not its usual publisher, Activision. Later, ZeniMax announced that Bethesda Softworks would also publish the game.
During QuakeCon 2010, id Software announced that Rage would be released in the United States on September 13, 2011, and in Europe on September 15, 2011. The company also demonstrated a version of Rage for the iPhone, which later became Rage HD. The game was finally released in October 201
Other media
id Software has published books based on the Doom video game series. After a short break, the company restarted the novel series in 2008. Matthew J. Costello, who worked as a story consultant for Doom 3 and later for the game Rage, wrote two new books in the series: Worlds on Fire and Maelstrom.
id Software became involved in movie projects when it was in charge of the film adaptation of the Doom franchise in 2005. In August 2007, Todd Hollenshead announced at QuakeCon 2007 that a movie based on Return to Castle Wolfenstein was being developed. This project brought together Roger Avary, who wrote and directed the film, and Samuel Hadida, who produced it. Both had previously worked on the Silent Hill movie. A new Doom movie, titled Doom: Annihilation, was released in 2019. However, id Software emphasized that it was not involved in the film’s creation.
Controversy
id Software faced controversy over two of its most popular games, Doom and Wolfenstein 3D. In 2022, the company was involved in a controversy related to libel accusations against the composer of Doom Eternal.
Doom was known for its graphic violence, occult themes, and satanic imagery, which caused controversy among many groups. Yahoo! Games listed it as one of the top ten most controversial games of all time.
The game sparked further controversy during a period of school shootings in the United States. It was discovered that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who committed the Columbine High School massacre in 1999, were fans of Doom. Harris compared the attack to playing the game and said it would be "like the LA riots, the Oklahoma bombing, World War II, Vietnam, Duke Nukem, and Doom all mixed together." He also claimed his shotgun was "straight out of the game." A rumor spread that Harris had designed a Doom level resembling Columbine High School and practiced for the attack by playing it repeatedly. However, while Harris did create Doom levels, none were based on Columbine.
Although Doom and other violent video games have been linked to school shootings in some discussions, research from 2008 by the Greater Good Science Center found no strong connection between the two. Researchers from Harvard Medical School, Cheryl Olson and Lawrence Kutner, discovered that violent video games were not linked to school shootings. The United States Secret Service and Department of Education studied 37 incidents of school violence and found that most shooters were male and had histories of depression or attempted suicide. While many shooters played video games, the study showed no direct relationship between gameplay and violence. In fact, only one-eighth of the shooters showed a special interest in violent video games, compared to more who were drawn to violent books and movies.
Wolfenstein 3D faced controversy in Germany due to its use of Nazi symbols, such as the swastika and the Nazi anthem Horst-Wessel-Lied. The PC version was removed from sale in 1994 after a court ruling in Munich. Similarly, the Atari Jaguar version was confiscated in Berlin in 1994. In 2018, the German organization Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle changed its stance, allowing case-by-case analysis of Nazi symbols in games. The international version of Wolfenstein 3D was removed from banned titles in 2019.
Due to concerns from Nintendo of America, the Super NES version of Wolfenstein 3D was altered. Swastikas and Nazi references were removed, blood was replaced with sweat, and attack dogs were replaced with giant mutant rats. Employees of id Software noted in The Official DOOM Player Guide that it was ironic that shooting people and rats was acceptable, but not dogs. Two new weapons were added, but the Super NES version was less successful than the PC version.
In May 2020, after the release of the Doom Eternal Original Soundtrack, there was strong criticism of the music, with accusations that it did not meet the standards of composer Mick Gordon. On April 19, Gordon confirmed on Twitter that the music was not his work. Later, Marty Stratton posted a detailed open letter on Reddit blaming Gordon for issues with the soundtrack. This led to public backlash, including death threats and graphic messages targeting Gordon and his family. Gordon’s accounts, servers, and phones were flooded with abuse, severely affecting his mental health.
On November 9, 2022, Gordon published a 14,000-word article on Medium defending himself against nine accusations in Stratton’s letter. He provided evidence, including emails, receipts, and file metadata, to support his claims. Gordon stated that he had not yet received half of his payment for the soundtrack and that Stratton had falsely claimed to deliver awards from The Game Awards 2020 on his behalf. Gordon also mentioned that Stratton’s name appeared on the OST’s pre-order list long before Bethesda hired him to work on the game. Additionally, Gordon claimed he was offered a large sum of money to remain silent about Stratton’s post but never had the post removed.
On November 16, 2022, Bethesda released a statement supporting Marty Stratton, Chad Mossholder, and the id Software team. They claimed to have evidence to refute Gordon’s claims but did not share it. They also expressed concern that Gordon’s statements had encouraged harassment and violence against the team.
People
In 2003, the book Masters of Doom told the story of id Software’s development, focusing on the work and relationships between John Carmack and John Romero. Below are the main people who contributed to id Software’s success.
John Carmack was known for his strong skills in 3D programming. He was id Software’s lead programmer from the beginning. On August 7, 2013, he joined Oculus VR, a company that makes virtual reality headsets, and left id Software on November 22, 2013.
John Romero saw a game demo called Dangerous Dave and decided to start id Software on September 20, 1990. He helped create the business of licensing game engines through his "id Summer Seminar" in 1991, where the Keen4 engine was used by Apogee for Biomenace. Romero worked closely with the DOOM community and was the public face of id Software for its fans. One example of this was the fan-made game Final DOOM, released in 1996. He also designed the control system for first-person shooter games and the level design style of DOOM, which influenced many later 3D games. He added par times to Wolfenstein 3D and DOOM, which started the trend of speedrunning. Romero created most of the tools that allowed id Software and others to use id’s technology. He left id Software in 1996 after Quake was released, then formed Ion Storm. There, he worked on Daikatana, a game that received poor reviews. Later, he co-founded The Guildhall in Dallas, Texas, was chairman of the CPL eSports league, started a company called Gazillion Entertainment that made MMORPGs, created a popular Facebook game named Ravenwood Fair that had 25 million monthly players in 2011, and started Romero Games in Galway, Ireland, in 2015.
Both Tom Hall and John Romero are known for their work as game designers and for helping shape important PC games in the 1990s.
Tom Hall was forced to leave id Software during the early development of Doom, but he had already influenced the game by adding teleporters. He left before Doom’s shareware release and worked for Apogee, helping create Rise of the Triad with the "Developers of Incredible Power." After finishing that game, he left Apogee and joined John Romero at Ion Storm. Hall has said that if he could get the rights to Commander Keen, he would make another game in that series.
Sandy Petersen designed 19 of the 27 levels in the original Doom and 17 of the 32 levels in Doom II. He was influenced by H.P. Lovecraft, and his work can be seen in the eerie monster designs for Quake. He also created Inferno, the third "episode" of Doom. He was forced to leave id Software during the development of Quake II, and most of his work was not used in the final game.
American McGee was a level designer for Doom II, The Ultimate Doom, Quake, and Quake II. He left id Software after Quake II was released and joined Electronic Arts, where he created the game American McGee’s Alice, which gained attention in the industry. After leaving Electronic Arts, he became an independent developer. From 2007 to 2016, he led the studio Spicy Horse in Shanghai, China.