id Software LLC (/ɪd/) is an American video game developer located in Richardson, Texas. It was founded on February 1, 1991, by four employees of the computer company Softdisk: programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer Tom Hall, and artist Adrian Carmack.

id Software made important technological advances in video game technology for personal computers (PCs) that ran MS-DOS and Windows. These advances included work on the Wolfenstein, Doom, and Quake series of games. id Software’s contributions were especially important in 3D graphics technology and in creating game engines used widely in the video game industry. The company played a key role in developing the first-person shooter (FPS) genre. Wolfenstein 3D is often considered the first true FPS game. Doom helped make the FPS genre and PC gaming more popular. Quake was id Software’s first true 3D FPS game.

On June 24, 2009, ZeniMax Media bought 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 schedule, including Dangerous Dave. Along with another Softdisk employee, Lane Roathe, they formed a small group called Ideas from the Deep (IFD). The name was chosen by Romero and Roathe. In September 1990, Carmack developed a fast way to make side-scrolling graphics on the PC. After this breakthrough, Carmack and Hall worked late into the night to create a copy of the first level of the 1988 NES game Super Mario Bros. 3, using graphics from Romero's Dangerous Dave instead of Mario. When Romero saw the demo, called Dangerous Dave in Copyright Infringement, he recognized the potential of Carmack's work. The IFD team worked extra hours over a week and 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 said the demo was impressive but stated, "We don’t want our intellectual property on anything but our own hardware, so we told you Good Job and You Can’t Do This." A working copy of the demo was later discovered in July 2021 and preserved at the Museum of Play.

In 1990, Scott Miller of Apogee Software learned about the group and their talent after playing Dangerous Dave, a game by Romero. Miller contacted Romero using fake fan letters, all from the same address. When Romero confronted Miller, he 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 popular shareware game. After receiving their first royalty check, Romero, Carmack, and Adrian Carmack (no relation) decided to start their own company. After hiring Hall, the group completed 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, IFD. Roathe had left the group, and they removed the "F" to make "id." Initially, "id" stood for "In Demand," but later, the group chose to use "id" as a word. In September 1991, the company moved to Madison, Wisconsin. In April 1992, it relocated to an office in Mesquite, Texas.

id Software used shareware distribution through Apogee Software to sell games like Commander Keen, Wolfenstein, and Doom. They released the first part of a trilogy as shareware and sold the other parts by mail order. Later, around the time of Doom II, id began selling games in traditional boxed formats through other publishers.

After Wolfenstein 3D’s success, id began working on Doom. After Hall left, Sandy Petersen and Dave Taylor were hired before Doom’s release in December 1993.

Quake was released on June 22, 1996, and was difficult to develop due to creative disagreements. Tensions grew between Carmack and Romero, leading Romero to leave id after the game’s release. Soon after, other staff members, including Michael Abrash, Shawn Green, Jay Wilbur, Petersen, and Mike Wilson, also left. Petersen claimed in July 2021 that the lack of a team leader caused the problems. He volunteered to lead, citing his experience as a project manager at MicroProse, but Carmack refused.

On June 24, 2009, it was announced that id Software was acquired by ZeniMax Media, which owns Bethesda Softworks. This affected publishing deals, such as Rage, which was previously published by Electronic Arts. ZeniMax received a $105 million investment from StrongMail Systems for the id acquisition, though the exact price of the deal is unknown. While the companies shared technology, Carmack opposed major changes like using id Tech for The Elder Scrolls or creating Doom RPGs and Fallout first-person shooters. In 2011, id moved from its "cube-shaped" office in Mesquite, Texas, to a 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 the company in 2019. ZeniMax Media was acquired by Microsoft for $7.5 billion in March 2021 and became part of Microsoft Gaming.

id Software writes its name with a lowercase "id," pronounced like "did" or "kid." According to the book Masters of Doom, the group was originally called "Ideas from the Deep" but later chose "id" because of the phrase "in demand." Some members disliked "in demand" and instead connected the name to Sigmund Freud’s psychological concept of "id." This reference appears in Wolfenstein 3D with the statement, "that’s id, as in the id, ego, and superego in the psyche." Prior to a website update, id’s History page directly mentioned Freud.

Key employees and their 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–present)
• Hugo Martin – Creative director (2013–present)

Chronological order of key figures:
• Tom Hall – Co-founder, game designer, level designer, writer, creative director (1991–1993). Hall resigned in August 1993 after a disagreement with Carmack over Doom’s design. He later joined 3D Realms.

Game development

id Software began by licensing the core source code, or engine, of its first shareware game series, Commander Keen. John Romero helped brainstorm this idea. In the summer of 1991, id Software held a weekend event called "The id Summer Seminar" to show potential buyers, including Scott Miller, George Broussard, Ken Rogoway, Jim Norwood, and Todd Replogle, how the engine worked. During one night, id Software created a game called "Wac-Man" to demonstrate the engine's technical abilities and how it functioned internally.

id Software developed its own game engine for each of its major titles, such as Commander Keen, Wolfenstein 3D, ShadowCaster, Doom, Quake, Quake II, Quake III, and the technology used in Doom 3. After using these engines for its own games, id Software licensed them to other developers. According to Eurogamer.net, "id Software has been known for creating PC game engines since the concept of a separate game engine became popular." In the mid-1990s, each new engine release was highly anticipated, with the Quake III engine being the most widely used. However, id Tech 4 had fewer licensees than Epic Games' Unreal Engine because of the long development time for Doom 3, which delayed its release to other developers.

John Carmack, who supported open source code, said in 2011 that he did not want to license the technology to the mass market. Starting with Wolfenstein 3D, he felt uncomfortable when third-party companies asked repeatedly to use the id Tech engine. He wanted to focus on creating new technology instead of supporting older ones. Carmack praised Epic Games for making the Unreal Engine available to the public. Even though Epic Games became more successful with its engine, Carmack did not regret his decision and continued to focus on open source 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 added new features. For example, Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Quake engines are now available on many platforms, including handheld PCs, iPods, the PSP, and the Nintendo DS. Projects like GZDoom added modern graphics features to the Doom engine, while DarkPlaces improved the Quake engine with better lighting and networking. Other projects, such as Yamagi Quake II and ioquake3, focused on cleaning up the code and fixing bugs. Earlier id Software games, like Hovertank 3D and Catacomb 3D, were released in 2014 by Flat Rock Software.

The source code for the Quake III engine was originally planned to be released in late 2004 but was delayed until August 2005. This was because the engine was still being sold to commercial customers, and they worried about losing value in their investments.

On August 4, 2011, John Carmack announced during a QuakeCon 2011 keynote that the source code for the Doom 3 engine (id Tech 4) would be released that year.

id Software stated it would not support the Wii console, possibly due to technical challenges, but later indicated it might release older games on that platform. For the Wii U, id Software followed the same policy, but for the Nintendo Switch, it partnered with Panic Button to release games like Doom and Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus starting in 2016.

After introducing id Tech 5, id Software began naming its engines "id Tech" followed by a version number. Older engines were renamed to match this system, with the Doom engine now called id Tech 1.

IMF ("id music file") is an audio format created by id Software for the AdLib sound card. It works similarly to MIDI by defining musical notes but does not support sampled sound effects. IMF files store data sent directly to the AdLib's OPL2 chip, which uses FM synthesis to create sound. Because of its limited features and low sound quality, modern games no longer use IMF.

Many songs in id Software's early 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 an early leader in Linux gaming. Many of its games, including Doom (the first id Software game ported to Linux), Quake, Quake II, Quake III Arena, and others, won awards from Linux Journal. Even games not originally 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 ports 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. Almost all Quake II games have Linux ports, except those made by Ion Storm. Despite concerns about id Tech 5 not being ported to Linux, Besset stated that Linux builds would be created. However, Besset left id Software in 2012.

John Carmack supported Linux in the past. In December 2000, Todd Hollenshead, id Software's president, said the company would continue to support Linux because it is a technically 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 movement across the screen. Published by Apogee Software, this game and its follow-ups helped id Software become successful as a shareware developer. Tom Hall, a game designer, is most known for working on this series. The first three games in the Commander Keen series were released on December 14, 1990.

id Software's most famous game, Wolfenstein 3D, was released on May 5, 1992. It was a first-person shooter with 3D graphics that were new for computer games. The game had violent gameplay that many players found exciting. This game started 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 game had better graphics than the last. Wolfenstein 3D had a prequel called Spear of Destiny and a sequel called Return to Castle Wolfenstein, both using the id Tech 3 engine. A later sequel, Wolfenstein, used the id Tech 4 engine and was made by Raven Software. Another sequel, Wolfenstein: The New Order, used the id Tech 5 engine and was made by MachineGames in 2014. A prequel called Wolfenstein: The Old Blood came out the next year, followed by Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus in 2017.

Eighteen months after Wolfenstein 3D was released, on December 10, 1993, id Software launched 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 before on personal computers or video game consoles. Doom became very popular and led to discussions about the effects of violent video games. Doom was released on many platforms, inspired many other games, and was followed by Doom II: Hell on Earth. id Software became well-known for sharing Doom as free software. They revisited the theme of Doom in 2004 with Doom 3. John Carmack said in 2007 that 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 later came out on Nintendo Switch on November 10, 2017. In June 2018, Doom Eternal was announced as the sequel to Doom 2016, with a teaser trailer and gameplay shown later that year.

On June 22, 1996, Quake was released, marking a major milestone for id Software. Quake used a new 3D engine called the Quake engine and had unique artwork that was praised 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 appeared on the ammunition boxes for the nailgun weapon. Michael Abrash also worked on the game. Quake's main feature was the ability to play deathmatch games online, especially through the QuakeWorld add-on, which made it very popular.

In 2008, id Software was honored at the 59th Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards for its work on Quake, which allowed players to modify games. id Software is the only game company to win two Emmy Awards from the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The first was in 2007 for creating the 3D technology used in modern shooter games.

The Quake series continued with Quake II in 1997. This game was not a direct story sequel but focused on an attack on an alien planet called Stroggos. Later games in the Quake series mostly followed this storyline. Quake III Arena (1999) had little story but centered on a gladiatorial arena called the "Arena Eternal." Characters from Doom, Quake, and Quake II appeared in the game. Quake IV (2005) continued the story from Quake II, ending the war between humans and the Strogg. A prequel 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 was canceled. John Carmack said at QuakeCon 2007 that a new Quake game would use the id Tech 5 engine.

In 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 since 2004's Doom 3. At WWDC 2007, John Carmack showed the new engine called id Tech 5. At QuakeCon 2007, the 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 publish Rage.

At 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. A version of Rage for the iPhone was also shown, later becoming Rage HD. The game was released in October 2011.

On May 14, 2018, Bethesda Softworks announced that id Software and Avalanche Studios would co-develop a new game called Rage 2.

In its early years, id Software made many different types of games. These included early 3D first-person shooter experiments that led to Wolfenstein 3D and Doom, such as Hovertank 3D and Catacomb 3D. Other games included the Rescue Rover series, which had two games: Rescue Rover and Rescue Rover 2. John Romero also made the Dangerous Dave series, which included a tech demo called In Copyright Infringement and a popular game called Dangerous Dave in the Haunted Mansion. The Haunted Mansion used the same engine as Shadow Knights, a game made by id Software to fulfill a contract with Softdisk. id Software also helped make other games using its technology, such as ShadowCaster (early id Tech 1), Heretic, Hexen: Beyond Heretic (id Tech 1), Hexen II (Quake engine), and Orcs and Elves (Doom RPG engine).

Other media

id Software has published books based on the Doom video game series. After a short break from publishing books, id Software started again in 2008 with new Doom 3 novels written by Matthew J. Costello. Matthew J. Costello worked as a story consultant for Doom 3 and now works on Rage. The novels are titled Worlds on Fire and Maelstrom.

id Software was involved in making a movie based on the Doom franchise in 2005. In August 2007, Todd Hollenshead, a leader at id Software, announced at QuakeCon 2007 that a movie based on Return to Castle Wolfenstein was being made. The movie would be written and directed by Roger Avary, who also worked on the Silent Hill films, and produced by Samuel Hadida. In 2019, a new Doom movie titled Doom: Annihilation was released. However, id Software stated it was not involved in making the movie.

Controversy

id Software faced controversy over two of its popular games, Doom and Wolfenstein 3D. In 2022, the company was involved in a legal dispute related to false accusations against the composer of Doom Eternal.

Doom became controversial due to its graphic violence, references to occult themes, and images linked to satanism. Yahoo! Games listed it as one of the most controversial games in history. The game sparked further debate during a period of school shootings in the United States. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who committed the Columbine High School massacre in 1999, were known to play Doom. Harris compared the attack to the game, saying it would be "like playing Doom." He also claimed his shotgun was modeled after a weapon in the game. A rumor later spread that Harris had created a Doom level resembling Columbine High School and practiced using it. However, no such level existed.

Studies, including research from Harvard Medical School in 2008, found no direct link between violent video games and school shootings. The United States Secret Service and Department of Education analyzed 37 school violence cases and found that most shooters were male and had histories of depression or suicide attempts. While many shooters played video games, only a small number showed a strong interest in violent games.

Wolfenstein 3D faced legal issues in Germany due to its use of Nazi symbols, such as the swastika and the Nazi anthem. The PC version was banned in 1994 after a court ruling. The Atari Jaguar version was also confiscated in 1994. In 2018, a German organization allowed the game to be sold again, provided its content was reviewed on a case-by-case basis. The international version was removed from banned lists in 2019.

To meet Nintendo’s requirements, the Super NES version of Wolfenstein 3D was altered. Swastikas and Nazi references were removed, blood was replaced with sweat, and attack dogs were changed to mutant rats. Employees of id Software noted the irony of this change, as shooting rats was considered more acceptable than shooting dogs. Two new weapons were added, but the Super NES version was less successful than the PC version.

In May 2020, backlash arose after the Doom Eternal Original Soundtrack was released. The music was criticized for not meeting the standards of its composer, Mick Gordon. Gordon later confirmed on social media that the music was not his work. Marty Stratton, a game developer, posted a detailed letter blaming Gordon for issues with the soundtrack. This led to public threats against Gordon, affecting his mental health.

In November 2022, Gordon published a detailed article explaining his side of the story, disputing Stratton’s claims with evidence such as emails and file records. He claimed he had not received full payment for his work and that Stratton had falsely claimed to deliver awards on his behalf. Gordon also stated that Stratton had been offered money to stop spreading false information.

On November 16, 2022, Bethesda, the company behind Doom Eternal, released a statement supporting Marty Stratton, Chad Mossholder, and the id Software team. They claimed they had evidence to challenge Gordon’s claims but did not share it. They also expressed concern that Gordon’s statements had led to harassment 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 of John Carmack and John Romero. Below are the important people who helped id Software succeed.

John Carmack was known for his talent in 3D programming. From the beginning, he was the lead programmer at id Software. 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 called Dangerous Dave and decided to start id Software on September 20, 1990. In 1991, he started a program called the "id Summer Seminar," where he shared the Keen4 game engine with Apogee for their game Biomenace. John worked closely with fans of the DOOM game and was the public face of id Software. One example of his work with fans was the fan-made game Final DOOM, released in 1996. He also created the control system for first-person shooter (FPS) games and the level design style of DOOM, which influenced many later 3D games. John added time limits for completing levels in Wolfenstein 3D and DOOM, which led to the practice of speedrunning. He made most of the tools that helped id Software and others use their technology. John left id Software in 1996 after Quake was released, then started a company called Ion Storm. At Ion Storm, he worked on Daikatana, a game that received poor reviews. Later, he co-founded The Guildhall in Dallas, Texas, became chairman of the CPL eSports league, created a company called Gazillion Entertainment that made MMORPGs, developed a popular Facebook game called Ravenwood Fair with 25 million monthly players in 2011, and started a new company called Romero Games in Galway, Ireland, in 2015.

Tom Hall and John Romero are both known for their work as game designers and creators of ideas that helped shape important PC games in the 1990s.

Tom Hall left id Software during the early development of Doom, but he had already made an impact, such as adding teleporters to the game. He left before the shareware version of Doom was released and later worked for Apogee, helping create Rise of the Triad with the "Developers of Incredible Power" team. After finishing that game, he left Apogee because he did not get along with the team working on Prey. He then joined John Romero at Ion Storm. Tom 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 inspired by H.P. Lovecraft, and his influence can be seen in the monster designs of Quake. He also created Inferno, the third "episode" of Doom. Sandy left id Software during the development of Quake II, and most of his work was not used in the final game.

American McGee designed levels for Doom II, The Ultimate Doom, Quake, and Quake II. He left id Software after Quake II was released and later joined Electronic Arts, where he created American McGee’s Alice, a game that gained attention in the industry. After leaving Electronic Arts, he worked independently. From 2007 to 2016, he led a game development studio called Spicy Horse in Shanghai, China.