John Romero
John Romero | |
|---|---|
| Born | Alfonso John Romero October 28, 1967 Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S. |
| Occupation | Video game developer |
| Years active | 1980–present |
| Known for | Co-founder of id Software; games: Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Doom II, Hexen, Quake; coined "deathmatch" |
| Notable work | Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Doom II, Hexen, Quake, Daikatana |
Alfonso John Romero (born October 28, 1967) is a prominent American video game developer and one of the original founders of id Software. He played a pivotal role in creating iconic games such as Wolfenstein 3D (1992), Doom (1993), Doom II (1994), Hexen (1995), and Quake (1996). Together with id programmer John Carmack, Romero was instrumental in bringing the first-person shooter (FPS) genre into mainstream popularity. He is also credited with coining the multiplayer phrase "deathmatch."
Following disagreements with Carmack, Romero was dismissed from id Software in 1996. Subsequently, he co-established Ion Storm, where he directed the FPS title Daikatana (2000), which ultimately faced critical and commercial disappointment. In 2001, Romero departed Ion Storm and teamed up with former id colleague Tom Hall to launch Monkeystone Games, focusing on mobile game development.
In 2003, Romero took on the role of project lead at Midway Games for Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows (2005), although he left prior to its release. He went on to found Gazillion Entertainment in 2005. Later, in 2016, Romero and ex-id artist Adrian Carmack announced the FPS project Blackroom, which was ultimately cancelled after failing to secure publishing support.
Early life
Born prematurely on October 28, 1967, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Romero has described his heritage as including Mexican, Yaqui, and Cherokee roots. His parents, Ginny and Alfonso Antonio Romero—a first-generation Mexican American who worked in maintenance at an air force base—moved to Colorado with limited means, seeking a more accepting environment for their interracial marriage.
Romero’s introduction to gaming started with the arcade hit Space Invaders (1978). However, it was Namco’s maze chase classic Pac-Man (1980) that profoundly shaped his interest in game design. The rapid 3D programming techniques employed by Nasir Gebelli on Apple II shooters like Horizon V (1981) and Zenith (1982) significantly influenced Romero’s later coding efforts at id Software. Other key inspirations include programmer Bill Budge, Shigeru Miyamoto’s celebrated Super Mario series, as well as fighting games such as Street Fighter II, Fatal Fury, Art of Fighting, and Virtua Fighter.
Early career
John Romero began crafting games on an Apple II computer in 1980. His first published title, Scout Search, was released as a type-in program featured in the June 1984 issue of Apple II magazine inCider. Under Capitol Ideas Software, he developed at least a dozen games including Cavern Crusader, which was entered into a programming contest held by A+ magazine. His earliest completed and published work was Jumpster, created in 1983 and launched commercially in 1987.
Romero’s initial professional position came at Origin Systems in 1987 after eight years of programming experience. There, he worked on porting the Apple II version of 2400 A.D. to the Commodore 64; however, this project was cancelled due to poor sales of the Apple II version. He also contributed to Paul Neurath’s title Space Rogue. Although invited to join Neurath’s startup Blue Sky Productions—which later became Looking Glass Technologies—Romero chose instead to co-found Inside Out Software. This company handled the Apple II to Commodore 64 port of Might & Magic II. He nearly finished porting Tower Toppler from Commodore 64 back to Apple II before all Epyx ports were cancelled amid their focus on Atari Lynx projects.
During this timeframe, Romero provided artwork for the Apple IIGS version of the Macintosh port of Dark Castle. Together with Lane Roathe, he also co-founded Ideas from the Deep, producing versions of Zappa Roidz for Apple II, PC, and Apple IIGS platforms. Their final joint project was an Apple II disk operating system called InfoDOS, designed to support Infocom titles such as Zork Zero, Arthur, Shogun, and Journey.
1990s: id Software and the Emergence of First-Person Shooters
In March 1989, Romero relocated to Shreveport, Louisiana and took a programming role within the Special Projects unit at Softdisk. Following several months contributing to the PC disk magazine Big Blue Disk, he initiated a PC games division in July 1990, initially called PCRcade but soon renamed Gamer's Edge. Romero recruited John D. Carmack from his freelance work in Kansas City, transitioned Adrian Carmack (no familial relation) from Softdisk’s art team, and enlisted Tom Hall to support game design efforts. By February 1991, Romero and his colleagues departed Softdisk to establish id Software.
Romero remained with id Software from its founding until 1996, playing pivotal roles in the development of iconic titles like Commander Keen, Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Doom II: Hell on Earth, and Quake. He acted as executive producer and designer for Heretic and Hexen. Romero was responsible for designing the majority of the first episode of Doom, about one-quarter of the levels in Quake, and half of the levels in both Commander Keen and Wolfenstein 3D: Spear of Destiny. Additionally, he created numerous essential tools utilized by id Software, including level editors such as DoomEd, QuakeEd, TED5; multiplayer launcher DM; DWANGO client; asset grabber IGRAB; installers; and configuration utilities. During a 2017 keynote at the WeAreDevelopers Conference, Romero referred to this era as Turbo Mode, emphasizing that his small team produced 28 games over five and a half years with fewer than ten developers. He is also credited with coining the term "deathmatch" to describe multiplayer combat modes.
An easter egg within Doom II level 30 "Icon of Sin" features a boss whose hit detection point is Romero’s severed head—a playful nod from the development team. The reversed audio during this encounter is a distorted message of Romero saying, "To win the game, you must kill me, John Romero!", rendered with a demonic effect.
During the production phase of Quake, creative differences arose between Romero and Carmack regarding the game's vision. While Romero sought complete creative autonomy, Carmack emphasized consistent progress. Despite participating in an intense final development sprint, these conflicts culminated in Romero’s resignation. In a 1997 interview, Romero reflected that departing after delivering a successful title was appropriate and maintained amicable relations with id Software. Years later, in 2022, Carmack expressed remorse over his handling of Romero's exit, attributing it to immaturity and lack of corporate insight but confirmed their relationship remained positive.
1996–2000: Ion Storm and the Development of Daikatana
Together with fellow id co-founder Tom Hall, Romero established Ion Storm in Dallas, Texas, where he took on design and production responsibilities for the first-person shooter Daikatana. Initially announced in 1997 with an intended Christmas launch, the title experienced multiple delays accompanied by negative media coverage. In a 2010 interview with Gamesauce, Romero issued an apology regarding a controversial 1997 advertisement proclaiming "John Romero's About To Make You His Bitch," which generated significant public backlash.
The protracted development concluded with its April 2000 release; however, critical reception was largely unfavorable, landing it on several "worst games" compilations. During this timeframe, a doctored image purportedly depicting Romero’s corpse circulated online—originally a photograph taken for Texas Monthly. Following the release of Hall’s Anachronox and closure of Ion Storm's Dallas branch, both Romero and Hall departed the company in 2001.
2000s
In July 2001, Romero partnered again with Hall to form Monkeystone Games, focusing on titles for mobile devices. Over approximately three and a half years, Monkeystone launched around fifteen games including Hyperspace Delivery Boy!, Congo Cube, and a mobile adaptation of Red Faction for Nokia's N-Gage. After ending his relationship with Stevie Case in 2003, she left Monkeystone while work on Red Faction continued until October. Subsequently, Romero delegated routine operations to Lucas Davis as he and Hall joined Midway's San Diego office.
By October 2003, Romero assumed project lead duties for Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows at Midway Games, while Monkeystone relocated to Austin to contribute to Midway's Area 51. Monkeystone ceased operations in January 2005. Rising to creative director at Midway before his departure in June that year—just prior to the release of Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows—Romero moved on to new ventures.
On August 31, 2005, he announced work on an undisclosed Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG) through his newly founded studio Slipgate Ironworks based in the Bay Area. Although optimistic about this fresh start compared to Midway, details remained under wraps until 2007. On March 17, 2009, Slipgate Ironworks merged into Gazillion Entertainment, co-founded by Romero alongside venture capitalist Rob Hutter and investor Bhavin Shah. In July 2006, Romero and Tom Hall co-hosted episode 53 of the podcast The Widget. Later in November 2010, Romero exited Gazillion to establish social gaming company Loot Drop with Brenda Brathwaite, joined by Hall shortly thereafter in January 2011.
Romero held the position of Chairman of the Board for the Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL) over a decade. On December 20, 2006, he revealed plans for a CPL-centric first-person shooter titled Severity, targeting consoles and PC platforms using licensed technology from id Software. Tom Mustaine was appointed Director of Game Development. Nevertheless, by October 2009 CPL founder Angel Munoz confirmed that production had halted due to insufficient publisher interest.
2010–Present
Romero guest-edited the March 2010 edition of British publication Retro Gamer. In August 2014, he disclosed intentions to develop another first-person shooter. By April 2016, he collaborated again with former id artist Adrian Carmack on an FPS project named Blackroom, designed to deliver an intense classic shooter experience combining exploration with rapid-paced combat. They aimed to raise $700,000 through Kickstarter, targeting a late-2018 release; however, the crowdfunding campaign was terminated four days after launch. In his autobiography Doom Guy: Life in First Person published in 2023, Romero disclosed that despite having demonstrated a demo to publishers post-Kickstarter cancellation, no financial backing materialized leading to quiet project discontinuation.
In recognition of his contributions, Romero received the Bizkaia Award at Bilbao’s Fun & Serious Game Festival in 2017. Alongside his wife Brenda Romero, he founded Romero Games on August 11, 2015. The studio has released titles such as Gunman Taco Truck (2017), SIGIL (2019), and Empire of Sin (2020). Responding to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, in March 2022 Romero created a new level for Doom II, sold exclusively via his website with all proceeds donated to support Ukrainian humanitarian efforts through the Ukrainian Red Cross and UN Central Emergency Response Fund.
Personal life
Romero married Raluca Alexandra Pleșca from Bucharest, Romania in January 2004; they divorced seven years later in 2011. He became engaged to fellow game developer Brenda Brathwaite on March 24, 2012; they wed on October 27 that same year. The couple collaborated professionally on projects including Ravenwood Fair, where Romero served as Lead Designer while Brathwaite held Creative Director responsibilities. They also co-founded social gaming firm Loot Drop in November 2010 and worked together on titles such as Cloudforest Expedition and Ubisoft’s Ghost Recon Commander. Romero has three children from previous marriages: Michael (born 1988), Steven (born 1989), and Lillia Antoinette (born 1998).
Romero’s signature long hair has been an element of his public persona; he cut it short in 2002 donating it to Locks of Love, only to grow it back by the following year. On January 11, 2022, he publicly affirmed his choice to maintain long hair as an expression of pride in his Yaqui and Cherokee heritage.
In discussing favorite games during the development phase of Daikatana around 2000, Romero cited titles such as Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny, Super Mario Bros. 3, Age of Empires, Duke Nukem 3D, and ranked ‘’Chrono Trigger’’ highest among them. By 2017 his preferences shifted toward games like World of Warcraft and ‘’Minecraft’’. His favored programming language is Lua.
Romero has publicly shared that he experiences hyperthymesia—a condition characterized by extraordinary memory—and identifies as an atheist. He noted that despite religious themes present within original ‘’Doom’’, its development team shared similar beliefs. After residing approximately eight years in Ireland, he obtained Irish citizenship in December 2023.
As an homage within gaming culture, Romero was immortalized as King Ormero in the video game ‘’Doom Eternal’’ released in 2020.
Recognition
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Games
| Name | Year | Publisher | Role(s) |
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| ‘’Dodge 'Em’’ | 1982 | Capitol Ideas Software | Programmer; Designer; Art; Sound |
| ‘’Scout Search’’ | 1984 | inCider Magazine | Programmer; Designer; Sound |
| ‘’Cavern Crusader’’ | 1984 | A+ Magazine | Programmer; Designer; Sound; Art |
| ‘’Bongo's Bash’’ | 1985 | A+ Magazine | Programmer; Designer; Sound |
| ‘’Zippy Zombi’’ | 1987 | Uptime Disk Monthly | Programmer; Designer; Sound |
| ‘’Wacky Wizard’’ | 1987 | Uptime Disk Monthly | Programmer; Designer; Sound |
| ‘’Subnodule’’ | 1987 | Keypunch Software Inc. | Programmer; Designer; Sound |
| ‘’Pyramids of Egypt’’ | 1987 | Uptime Disk Monthly | Programmer; Designer; Sound |
| ‘’Neptune's Nasties’’ | 1987 | Uptime Disk Monthly | Programmer; Designer; Sound |
| ‘’Major Mayhem’’ | 1987 | Nibble Magazine | Programmer; Designer; Sound |
| ‘’Lethal Labyrinth’’ | 1987 | Uptime Disk Monthly | Programmer; Designer; Sound |
| ‘’Krazy Kobra’’ | 1987 | Uptime Disk Monthly | Programmer; Designer; Sound |
| ‘’Jumpster’’ | 1987 | Uptime Disk Monthly | Programmer; Designer; Sound |
| ‘’Evil Eye’’ | 1987 | Uptime Disk Monthly | Programmer; Designer; Sound |
| ‘’James Clavell's Shōgun’’ | 1988 | Infocom | Programmer
... [List continues accordingly] ... |
External links
- Pages with script errors
- Articles with short description
- Articles with hCards
- No local image but image on Wikidata
- Redirects from moves
- Redirects from modifications
- 1967 births
- Living people
- American video game designers
- American video game directors
- American video game programmers
- Doom (franchise)
- Id Software people
- Quake (series)
- Wolfenstein
- Game Developers Conference Lifetime Achievement Award recipients
- Origin Systems people