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id allowed various developers to revisit their franchises with new adaptions on the series. The first of this was Return to Castle Wolfenstein, developed by Gray Matter Interactive and Nerve Software. Return to Castle Wolfenstein was the first Wolfenstein game with online multiplayer. The next published game was Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, an online-only take on the Wolfenstein series developed by Splash Damage. It was soon revealed that this break was due to id's development on Doom 3 which was released in 2004. Doom 3 once again revolutionized graphics on a PC but received a mixed reception from series fans. id returned to production after Doom 3, collaborating with Raven Software for Quake 4, Fountainhead Studios' cell phone games Doom RPG and Orcs & Elves, and finally, Splash Damage's Quake spin-off, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. They have also released a heavily revised version of Quake 3 Arena as a browser-based game, Quake Live.
id is currently working on the development of its new first person shooter series, Rage, and a fourth Doom game. Rage will be published by Electronic Arts after id announced a partnership with EA, ending their long exclusive relationship with Activision. Also, Raven Software released a new Wolfenstein game published by Activision.
On June 24, 2009, id Software was acquired by Zenimax Media, the parent company of Bethesda. This was considered a surprise move , especially on id's part due to their history as being a staunchly independent developer. The full press release can be found here.
id Software is one of the highest regarded developers in the industry, responsible for the Doom, Quake, and Wolfenstein series.
Founding
id Software's history starts at Softdisk, an Apple II disk magazine company. At a board meeting at Softdisk in 1990, John Carmack introduced a groundbreaking technique to develop rapid side-scrolling graphics on a PC. Carmack and co-worker Tom Hall worked through the night developing a replica of the first level of Super Mario Bros. 3 using stock images from co-worker John Romero's game, Dangerous Dave. When Romero saw Carmack and Hall's creation, he knew that Carmack had made something special. Unknown to Softdisk, the three men designed a full carbon copy of Super Mario Bros. 3 on the PC, hoping to license the game to Nintendo. Unfortunately, Nintendo turned down the trio. However, this caught the attention of Scott Miller of Apogee Software. Miller began to contact John Romero through a series of fan letters. Once Romero caught on, Miller realized this was necessary or Softdisk would become aware of the three. Miller suggested the three making shareware games to start out with. They "borrowed" the Softdisk computers and started development on platformer, Commander Keen. The game was released on December 14, 1990 and was published by Scott Miller's Apogee Software. Soon after this, Softdisk learned of the three's plans. However, they were able to reach an agreement. Carmack, Hall and Romero were able to get away with it and form there own studio if they provided a game for Softdisk every 2 months. The three agreed and on February 1, 1991, id Software was born.History
id first sold their games in the same way they sold Commander Keen, through shareware distribution with Apogee Software. id would start by selling the first title of their trilogies through shareware than sell the next two via mail order. For Wolfenstein 3D and Doom, distinct sequels were created for the retail market (based on the same engine and assets), but starting with Quake the more conventional retail model was adopted from the outset. id quickly became famous for their game engines which were frequently licensed to other developers. After the Keen engine, id would go on to develop the Wolfenstein 3D engine, the Wolfenstein 3D slopes engine, Doom engine, Quake, Quake II and Quake III engines, Doom 3 technology ( id Tech 4), the MegaTexture technology, and the upcoming id Tech 5. Commander Keen was id's first big success. Commander Keen gained a cult following from the gamers and spawned a large series of titles. Wolfenstein 3D was their next big hit and essentially created the 3D first person shooter genre. Wolfenstein 3D was followed by its less successful prequel, Spear of Destiny. After Wolfenstein 3D, id launched its biggest hit yet, Doom. Doom had the best graphics of any PC game to date and garnered mainstream media attention based on its popularity and violent, dark imagery. Doom was followed by the just as successful Doom II, which was technically very similar to the original. 2 years later, id's next hit first person shooter was born, Quake. Quake featured an all new full 3D game engine and the groundbreaking ability to play deathmatch across the internet. Quake spawned two sequels in Quake II and the online-only Quake III: Arena.id allowed various developers to revisit their franchises with new adaptions on the series. The first of this was Return to Castle Wolfenstein, developed by Gray Matter Interactive and Nerve Software. Return to Castle Wolfenstein was the first Wolfenstein game with online multiplayer. The next published game was Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, an online-only take on the Wolfenstein series developed by Splash Damage. It was soon revealed that this break was due to id's development on Doom 3 which was released in 2004. Doom 3 once again revolutionized graphics on a PC but received a mixed reception from series fans. id returned to production after Doom 3, collaborating with Raven Software for Quake 4, Fountainhead Studios' cell phone games Doom RPG and Orcs & Elves, and finally, Splash Damage's Quake spin-off, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. They have also released a heavily revised version of Quake 3 Arena as a browser-based game, Quake Live.
id is currently working on the development of its new first person shooter series, Rage, and a fourth Doom game. Rage will be published by Electronic Arts after id announced a partnership with EA, ending their long exclusive relationship with Activision. Also, Raven Software released a new Wolfenstein game published by Activision.
Acquisition by Bethesda
On June 24, 2009, id Software was acquired by Zenimax Media, the parent company of Bethesda. This was considered a surprise move , especially on id's part due to their history as being a staunchly independent developer. The full press release can be found here.
| Company Name | id Software |
| Street Address | 3819 Towne Crossing Blvd |
| City | Mesquite |
| State | TX |
| Country | USA |
| Website | http://www.idsoftware.com/ |
| Contact Email | |
| Phone Number | 972-686-9288 |
| Date Founded | Feb. 1, 1991 |
| Count of Games Published | 25 |
| Count of Games Developed | 55 |
| Aliases |
|
Doomguy first in Doom |
29
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Cyberdemon first in Doom |
13
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Quake Guy first in Quake |
12
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Dopefish first in Commander Keen 4: Secret of the Oracle |
11
|
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Commander Keen first in Commander Keen 1: Marooned on Mars |
10
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William "B.J." Blazkowicz first in Wolfenstein 3D |
8
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Spider Mastermind first in Doom |
7
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Xaero first in Quake III: Arena |
6
|
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Angel first in Quake III: Arena |
6
|
|
Hunter first in Quake III: Arena |
6
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| See all » |
