Masters of Doom – JSV Book Club
Welcome to the next edition of the JSV Book Club. This time, we’ve selected “Masters of Doom,” the true story of id Software and the development of Castle Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Quake (among others). It features the two cofounders of the company, John Carmack and John Romero. Award-winning author and journalist David Kushner wrote the book in 2003, but the lessons and trends discussed are as timely now as ever.
Unbeknownst to me, id Software was a pioneer of two mega trends in the gaming industry: free-to-play and eSports. They were also at the center of the public conversation around game violence, game ratings, and even virtual reality – since they had developed by far the most sophisticated 3D graphics engine, many people saw their games as virtual reality. The following quote was about a game published in the early 90s.
“Virtual reality, now a buzzword in the mainstream press, was a term being applied to Wolfenstein. Shareware magazines were dubbing it a virtual reality game.”
As we frequently think about hype cycles and emerging trends in the broader tech industry, this book serves an instructive reminder to understand the innovations and the roots of trends that started long before the current hype. While eSports is garnering a ton of attention right now, “Masters of Doom” traces the origins of this trend back to the mid 90s and the dawn of games that attracted online competition and spectators. It’s also a reminder that these trends can go up and down the hype cycle multiple times. The public started talking about virtual reality and eSports back in the 90s.
“As the first game designed specifically for multiplayer team competition over the Internet, it allowed up to sixteen people to compete in paintball-like teams, hunting each other down in a wild panic to kill or be killed. “Football with guns,” as a player named Dr. Rigormortis put it.”
And if these trends aren’t enough – the story of id Software has all the drama, entertainment, and hero and underdog stories as a Lord of the Rings epic.
id Software embodied the hackers in garages startup lore.
“In the information age, the barriers just aren’t there,” he said. “The barriers are self-imposed. If you want to set off and go develop some grand new thing, you don’t need millions of dollars of capitalization. You need enough pizza and Diet Coke to stick in your refrigerator, a cheap PC to work on, and the dedication to go through with it. We slept on floors. We waded across rivers.”
We hope you enjoy the book as much as we did – and we hope you can learn some valuable lessons to apply to your business.
Please join the conversation at @JSVBookClub and share quotes at #JSVBookClub.
Ancora Imparo
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PS – Update. Event is scheduled for June 14th. RSVP here – https://doom.splashthat.com