History Creator / IdSoftware

id has frequently worked together with Raven Software (''Shadowcaster'', ''VideoGame/{{Heretic}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Hexen}}''), Nerve Software, and Splash Damage.

id Software LLC is a Texas-based developer/publisher, best known for [[TropeCodifier popularizing]] the FirstPersonShooter genre.

* ''VideoGame/{{Rage}}''

John Carmack was the last of the original founders to remain with the company, finally leaving a month shy of twenty years to the day Doom was released. In his time with id, he has earned a reputation as one of the industry's most brilliant programmers. As a result of his "programming first" mentality -- he once commented notoriously that stories in video games are like stories in porn; [[ExcusePlot they're expected to be there, but aren't important]] -- many id releases are {{tech demo game}}s that show off the features in a new engine, which they then license out to other developers.

It's worth noting that, whenever a new [=IdTech=] engine is built, the previous one is released under the open-source GNU General Public License, thus continuing id's legacy in ''VideoGame/{{Warsow}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Nexuiz}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Xonotic}}'', ''Alien Arena'', ''VideoGame/UrbanTerror'' (previously a ''VideoGame/QuakeIIIArena'' GameMod) and ''VideoGame/OpenArena'', among others.

In June 2009, id Software became part of Zenimax Media (who also houses developers [[Creator/{{Bethesda}} Bethesda Game Studios]], creators of ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' saga, [[Creator/ShinjiMikami Tango Gameworks]], {{Creator/MachineGames}}, and others). In 2011, id announced that it would no longer be licensing out its idTech engines, though still releasing previous versions. Carmack, ever in search of new challenges, is now working for the Occulus Rift project. In 2020, it was announced that id Software, as part of Microsoft's acquisition of [=ZeniMax=] Media, would become a member of Creator/XboxGameStudios.

id has frequently worked together with Raven Software (''Shadowcaster, VideoGame/{{Heretic}} and VideoGame/{{Hexen}}''), Nerve Software, and Splash Damage.

In June 2009, id Software became part of Zenimax Media (who also houses developers [[Creator/{{Bethesda}} Bethesda Game Studios]], creators of ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' saga, [[Creator/ShinjiMikami Tango Gameworks]], {{Creator/MachineGames}}, and others). In 2011, id announced that it would no longer be licensing out its idTech engines, though still releasing previous versions. Carmack, ever in search of new challenges, is now working for the Occulus Rift project.

** ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' and ''VideoGame/DoomII''

** ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' and ''Doom II''

** ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}''
** ''VideoGame/{{Doom 3}}''

* ''VideoGame/{{Hexen}}''
** ''[[VideoGame/{{Hexen}} Hexen II]]''
* ''VideoGame/{{Hovertank 3D}}''

** ''Videogame/{{Doom}}''
** ''Videogame/{{Doom 3}}''
** ''Videogame/Doom2016''

id has frequently worked together with Raven Software (''Shadowcaster, VideoGame/{{Heretic}} and VideoGame/{{Hexen}}''), Nerve Software, and Splash Damage Ltd (now also at Zenimax).

In June 2009, id Software became part of Zenimax Media (who also houses developers [[Creator/{{Bethesda}} Bethesda Game Studios]], creators of ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' saga, [[Creator/ShinjiMikami Tango Gameworks]], {{Creator/MachineGames}}, and others). In 2011, id announced that it would no longer be licensing out its idTech engines (though still releasing previous engines). Carmack, ever in search of new challenges, is now working for the Occulus Rift project.

[[quoteright:180:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/0a61340f8008872693c286e036c421db.jpg]]

It's worth noting that, whenever a new [=IdTech=] engine is built, the previous one is released under the open-source GNU General Public License, thus continuing id's legacy in ''VideoGame/{{Warsow}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Nexuiz}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Xonotic}}'', ''VideoGame/AlienArena'', ''VideoGame/UrbanTerror'' (previously a ''VideoGame/QuakeIIIArena'' GameMod) and ''VideoGame/OpenArena'', among others.

Currently, id Software is part of Zenimax Multimedia (who also houses developers [[Creator/{{Bethesda}} Bethesda Game Studios]], creators of ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' saga, [[Creator/ShinjiMikami Tango Gameworks]], {{Creator/MachineGames}}, and others). In 2011, id announced that it would no longer be licensing out its idTech engines (though still releasing previous engines). Carmack, ever in search of new challenges, is now working for the Occulus Rift project.

After programmer Creator/JohnCarmack and three of his fellow Softdisk employees -- JohnRomero, Adrian Carmack (no relation to John), and Tom Hall -- developed a ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'' mockup around a PlatformGame engine he'd created (view gameplay of ''Dangerous Dave in Copyright Infringement'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cj4HJkeQSg0 here]]), the group struck out on their own and founded id Software. They were major supporters of the {{Shareware}} distribution model, and it paid off; at one point in the early '90s, the first episode of ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' was on more hard drives than Microsoft Windows.

John Carmack was the last of the original founders to remain with the company, finally leaving a month shy of twenty years to the day Doom was released. In his time with id, he has earned a reputation as one of the industry's most brilliant programmers. As a result of his "programming first" mentality -- he once commented notoriously that stories in video games are like stories in porn; [[ExcusePlot they're expected to be there, but aren't important]] -- many id releases are {{Tech Demo Game}}s that show off the features in a new engine, which they then license out to other developers.

It's worth noting that, whenever a new [=IdTech=] engine is built, the previous one is released under the open-source GNU General Public License, thus continuing id's legacy in VideoGame/{{Warsow}}, Xonotic, Alien Arena, VideoGame/UrbanTerror (previously a VideoGame/QuakeIIIArena GameMod) and VideoGame/OpenArena, among others.

Currently, id Software is part of Zenimax Multimedia (who also houses developers [[Creator/{{Bethesda}} Bethesda Game Studios]], creators of ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' saga, [[Creator/ShinjiMikami Tango Gameworks]], {{Creator/MachineGames}}, and others). In 2011, id announced that it would no longer be licensing out its idTech engines (though still releasing previous engines). Carmack, ever in search of new challenges, is now working for the Oculus Rift guys.

** ''VideoGame/{{Wolfenstein|2009}}''

* ''VideoGame/DangerousDaveInTheHauntedMansion''

* ''[[VideoGame/{{Hexen}} Hexen II]]''