John Romero

Developer BIO

John Romero is a game designer, programmer, artist and sequential artist whose work spans over 130 games, 97 of which have been published commercially, including the iconic works Wolfenstein 3D, Doom and Quake. His contributions and philanthropy within the commercial game industry have led to many inspired games and the founding of ten companies.

He is best know for his work on 3D level design, game balance, and overall progression for both single-player and multi-player. He was also instrumental in the promoting of cybersports, from LAN parties to DWANGO to the Cyberathlete Professional League. He is considered by many to be the father of deathmatch competitions.

One of the earliest “indie” developers, Romero began working in the game space in 1979 on mainframes before moving to the Apple II in 1981. He is a completely self-taught programmer, designer and artist, having drawn his inspirations from early Apple II programmers, including the likes of Nasir Gebelli, Richard Garriott, Bill Budge and Tony Suzuki.

Romero’s current areas of interest are social online games and massively multi-player online (MMO) games. He is presently a co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of Loot Drop, founded in November 2010. Romero also remains active in the artgame, game history and indie space.

Romero also founded Capitol Ideas Software and co-founded Inside Out Software, Ideas From The Deep, id Software, Ion Storm, Monkeystone Games, and Gazillion Entertainment.

Websites

• Wikipedia -- The John Romero profile on Wikipedia
• The Apogee Legacy #19 - John Romero -- Nineteenth edition of the "Apogee Legacy" interviews
• IMDb -- The IMDb profile for John Romero
• 10th Anniversary Quake Expo -- An interview with John Romero about the history of Quake (July 2006)
• Planet Rome.ro -- John Romero's personal website.
• Matt Chat 51 -- Video interview with John Romero about his early programmer days

Games Credited

• Pettington Park (2012), Zynga Game Network Inc.
• Retro City Rampage (2012), Vblank Entertainment Inc.
• Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Commander (2012), Ubisoft, Inc.
• Marvel Super Hero Squad Online (2011), Gazillion Entertainment, Inc.
• DOOM II (2010), Bethesda Softworks LLC
• Ravenwood Fair (2010), Lolapps, Inc.
• Area-51 (2005), Midway Home Entertainment, Inc.
• Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows (2005), Midway Home Entertainment, Inc.
• Cartoon Network Block Party (2004), Majesco Sales, Inc.
• Congo Cube (2003), THQ Wireless Inc.
• Dig It! (2003), THQ Wireless Inc.
• Jewels and Jim (2003), THQ Wireless Inc.
• Red Faction (2003), THQ Wireless Inc.
• Hyperspace Delivery Boy! (2002), Monkeystone Games
• Anachronox (2001), Eidos Interactive Ltd.
• Deus Ex (Game of the Year Edition) (2001), Eidos Interactive, Inc.
• DOOM Collector's Edition (2001), Activision Publishing, Inc.
• Deus Ex (2000), Eidos Interactive Ltd.
• John Romero's Daikatana (2000), Eidos Interactive Ltd.
• Dominion: Storm Over Gift 3 (1998), Eidos Interactive, Inc.
• Half-Life (1998), Sierra On-Line, Inc.
• DOOM 64 (1997), Midway Games, Inc.
• Chex Quest (1996), Ralston-Purina
• Final DOOM (1996), GT Interactive Software Corp.
• Final DOOM (1996), Atari, Inc.
• Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders (1996), id Software, Inc.
• Quake (1996), id Software, Inc.
• Strife (1996), Studio 3DO
• Dangerous Dave Goes Nutz! (1995), Softdisk Publishing
• DOOM (1995), Williams Entertainment Inc.
• Hexen: Beyond Heretic (1995), id Software, Inc.
• The Ultimate DOOM (1995), GT Interactive Software Corp.
• Blake Stone: Planet Strike! (1994), Apogee Software, Ltd.
• Corridor 7: Alien Invasion (1994), Capstone Software
• DOOM II (1994), GT Interactive Software Corp.
• Heretic (1994), id Software, Inc.
• Rise of the Triad: Dark War (1994), FormGen, Inc.
• Super Noah's Ark 3-D (1994), Wisdom Tree, Inc.
• Wolfenstein 3D (1994), Atari Corporation
• Bio Menace (1993), Apogee Software, Ltd.
• Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold (1993), Apogee Software, Ltd.
• Curse of the Catacombs (1993), Froggman
• Dangerous Dave's Risky Rescue (1993), Softdisk Publishing
• DOOM (1993), id Software, Inc.
• ScubaVenture The Search For Pirate's Treasure (1993), Softdisk Publishing
• ShadowCaster (1993), ORIGIN Systems, Inc.
• Terror of the Catacombs (1993), Froggman
• Catacomb 3-D (1992), Gamer's Edge, Softdisk Publishing
• The Catacomb Abyss (1992), Softdisk Publishing
• Cyberchess (1992), Softdisk Publishing
• Dangerous Dave Returns (1992), Softdisk Publishing
• Spear of Destiny (1992), FormGen, Inc.
• Wolfenstein 3D (1992), Apogee Software, Ltd.
• Catacomb II (1991), Softdisk Publishing
• Commander Keen 4: Secret of the Oracle (1991), Apogee Software, Ltd.
• Commander Keen 5: The Armageddon Machine (1991), Apogee Software, Ltd.
• Commander Keen: Aliens Ate My Babysitter! (1991), FormGen, Inc.
• Commander Keen: "Goodbye, Galaxy!" (1991), Apogee Software, Ltd.
• Commander Keen: Invasion of the Vorticons (1991), Precision Software Applications
• Commander Keen: Keen Dreams (1991), Softdisk Publishing
• Dangerous Dave in the Haunted Mansion (1991), Softdisk Publishing
• Hovertank (1991), Softdisk Publishing
• Paganitzu (1991), Digital Horizons
• PARAGON (1991), Gamer's Edge, Softdisk Publishing
• Rescue Rover (1991), Softdisk Publishing
• Rescue Rover 2 (1991), Expert Software, Inc., Froggman, Softdisk Publishing
• Slordax: The Unknown Enemy (1991), Softdisk Publishing
• Xenopods (1991), Softdisk Publishing
• Alfredo's Stupendous Surprise (1990), Softdisk Publishing
• Big Blue Disk #40 (1990), Softdisk Publishing
• Big Blue Disk #41 (1990), Softdisk Publishing
• Big Blue Disk #44 (1990), Softdisk Publishing
• Catacomb (1990), Softdisk Publishing
• Commander Keen 1: Marooned on Mars (1990), Apogee Software, Ltd.
• Commander Keen 2: The Earth Explodes (1990), Apogee Software, Ltd.
• Commander Keen 3: Keen Must Die! (1990), Apogee Software, Ltd.
• Dark Designs II: Closing the Gate (1990), Softdisk Publishing
• Dino-Sorcerer (1990), Softdisk Publishing
• Pixel Puzzler (1990), Softdisk Publishing
• Shadow Knights (1990), Softdisk Publishing
• Sub Stalker (1990), Softdisk Publishing
• Arthur: The Quest for Excalibur (1989), Infocom, Inc.
• Big Blue Disk #32 (1989), Softdisk Publishing
• Big Blue Disk #35 (1989), Softdisk Publishing
• How to Weigh an Elephant (1989), Softdisk Publishing
• Journey: The Quest Begins (1989), Infocom, Inc.
• Magic Boxes (1989), Softdisk Publishing
• Might and Magic II: Gates to Another World (1989), New World Computing, Inc.
• Same or Different (1989), Softdisk Publishing
• Space Rogue (1989), ORIGIN Systems, Inc.
• Twilight Treasures (1989), Softdisk Publishing
• Zappa Roidz (1989), Softdisk Publishing
• Zork Zero: The Revenge of Megaboz (1989), Infocom, Inc.
• City Centurian (1988), Nibble Magazine
• Dangerous Dave in the Deserted Pirate's Hideout! (1988), Uptime Disk Monthly
• James Clavell's Shogun (1988), Infocom, Inc.
• Evil Eye (1987), Uptime Disk Monthly
• Jumpster (1987), Uptime Disk Monthly
• Krazy Kobra (1987), Uptime Disk Monthly
• Lethal Labyrinth (1987), Uptime Disk Monthly
• Major Mayhem (1987), Nibble Magazine
• Neptune's Nasties (1987), Uptime Disk Monthly
• Pyramids of Egypt (1987), Uptime Disk Monthly
• Subnodule (1987), Keypunch Software, Inc.
• Wacky Wizard (1987), Uptime Disk Monthly
• Zippy Zombi (1987), Uptime Disk Monthly
• Bongo's Bash (1985), A+ Magazine
• Cavern Crusader (1984), A+ Magazine
• Scout Search (1984), inCider Magazine
• Dodge 'Em (1982),