{"id":2082111,"date":"2026-08-07T12:00:44","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T09:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2082111"},"modified":"2026-08-07T12:00:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T09:00:44","slug":"doom-creator-id-software-used-taiwanese-pirates-to-help-distribute-the-game-john-romero-reveals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2082111","title":{"rendered":"Doom creator id Software used Taiwanese pirates to help distribute the game, John Romero reveals"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article \" data-ads=\"true\" data-article-type=\"news\" data-article-group=\"news\" data-paywalled=\"false\" data-premium=\"false\" data-sponsored=\"false\" data-type=\"article\">\n<header class=\"article_header\" data-component=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<nav class=\"nav_breadcrumbs\" data-component=\"nav-breadcrumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\">\n<ul class=\"nav-links\">\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Home<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/news\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      News<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_details\" id=\"main-content\">\n<h1 class=\"title\">Doom creator id Software used Taiwanese pirates to help distribute the game, John Romero reveals<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">Amassing avast audience.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_asset\">\n<figure class=\"headline_image_wrapper\">\n<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"headline_image\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/john-romero-pirate-hat.jpg?width=570&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"Long-haired Doom and Quake creator John Romero resting his hands on a skull and smiling. I&apos;ve photoshopped a pirate hat on him and it suits him rather well.\" loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"john-romero-pirate-hat.jpg\" data-lightbox width=\"570\" height=\"321\"><figcaption>\n          <span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Eurogamer \/ John Romero<\/cite><\/span><br \/>\n        <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metadata\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Robert Purchese avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/user-9946-originalxoriginal-14-03-23.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1017\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img alt=\"Robert Purchese avatar\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"user-9946-originalxoriginal-14-03-23.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1017\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text\">\n<div class=\"byline\">\n                  <span class=\"article_type\" data-slug=\"news\"><br \/>\n                    News<br \/>\n                  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"by\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/authors\/robert-purchese\">Robert Purchese<\/a><\/span>                    <span class=\"job_title\"><br \/>\n                      Associate Editor<br \/>\n                    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"published_at\">\n<p>Published on   <time datetime=\"2026-08-07T12:00:44+00:00\" data-auto-time-zone=\"true\" data-year=\"numeric\" data-month=\"short\" data-day=\"numeric\" data-hour=\"numeric\" data-minute=\"numeric\">Aug. 7, 2026, noon<\/time>\n              <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mypop-header-wrapper\">\n<p><button class=\"mypop-button button wide\" data-state=\"follow\" data-type=\"tag\" data-uuid=\"7675d439-3caa-4f0a-b86e-1f76730b75dd\" data-name=\"Doom\" data-follow-text=\"Follow Doom\" data-unfollow-text=\"Following Doom\" data-aria-follow-text=\"Follow Doom\" data-aria-unfollow-text=\"Following Doom\" data-popup=\"true\" data-force-login=\"true\" aria-label=\"Follow Doom\" title=\"Follow Doom\"><br \/>\n  Follow Doom<br \/>\n<\/button>          <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>John Romero, the legendarily long-haired co-founder of id Software and father of game series  Quake and Doom, has recounted a tale about when id Software worked with Taiwanese pirates to spread Doom.<\/p>\n<p>The tale belongs to the 80s and early 90s, when games used a Shareware business model. The first part of a game was released for free and you could order the rest of it from a company for a fee. It was the model id Software used for Wolfenstein, and then for Doom.<\/p>\n<p>Because there was nothing preventing pirates from copying and reselling Shareware versions of a game as their own, they did, and a cottage industry sprang up around it. &#8220;You would go to the store and you would see 10 different boxes that all had the same shareware Doom in it,&#8221; Romero recounted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=AjrLz30fEZc\">in a QuakeCon 2026 panel<\/a> at around the 20-minute mark (picked up by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/games\/fps\/john-romero-says-id-software-once-sold-empty-doom-boxes-to-taiwanese-pirates-so-fans-there-could-have-legit-copies-for-us-it-was-distribution\/\">PC Gamer<\/a>). &#8220;It was awesome. We were totally happy with that.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"Quake: Dawn of the Machine - Official Launch Trailer\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WgTzgn9MJZo?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/WgTzgn9MJZo\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">Quake: Dawn of the Machine &#8211; Official Launch Trailer<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>Quake got a surprise new expansion overnight.<a class=\"video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=WgTzgn9MJZo\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Why was id Software happy?  Because game-pirates were effectively doing distribution for the game &#8211; and in a region id Software wasn&#8217;t as familiar with. &#8220;We knew in Taiwan that they were copying it, 100 percent,&#8221; Romero said. &#8220;That was the market back then.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>But instead of trying to fight it, id Software leant into it, harnessing the reach those pirates already had in order to spread the game. &#8220;So we contacted the biggest pirates there and went, &#8216;Can you buy boxes from us? Really cheap; really really cheap.&#8217; So they bought tons of boxes off of us so it would be legitimate.&#8221; The message was simple: &#8220;Please do it. Don&#8217;t give us any money. Just get it out there.<\/p>\n<p>It was in id Software&#8217;s interest to support the illegitimate practice. &#8220;We made money when people would actually order the rest of the game,&#8221; Romero said. It also helped the studio establish a fanbase in the region  that presumably be interested in the other games it made. &#8220;For us it was: distribution is king.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s a refreshing revelation in an industry that&#8217;s fought long and hard against piracy, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/gog-playstation-discs-game-ownership\">often burdening players<\/a> with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/crimson-desert-adds-denuvo-drm-to-steam-release\">fussy copy protection systems<\/a> in order to minimise the piracy opportunities. It&#8217;s a battle that&#8217;s only recently tipped in game-makers&#8217; favour because of internet-required logins.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"Quake \u201cDawn of the Machine\u201d | 30 Years w\/ John Romero + Marty Stratton &amp; MachineGames\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/AjrLz30fEZc?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/AjrLz30fEZc\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">Quake \u201cDawn of the Machine\u201d | 30 Years w\/ John Romero + Marty Stratton &amp; MachineGames<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>Here&#8217;s John Romero on stage at QuakeCon sharing his anecdotes.<a class=\"video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=AjrLz30fEZc\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&#8220;We came from an era in the 80s where, man, copy protection was a war,&#8221; Romero recalled. &#8220;But there were some publishers back then that did not do that, and we really respected those publishers. But there&#8217;s always been a war that&#8217;s never been won with copy protection, so we didn&#8217;t want to waste our time with that.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"2\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;If people want to copy it, they&#8217;re going to copy it. They might buy it sometime later, but we knew we didn&#8217;t have money for everything that we were playing, so we&#8217;re like, &#8216;Let&#8217;s not copy protect it.&#8217; If people want to play it, they&#8217;ll figure out how to play it. We only needed enough to make the next game.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>John Romero left id Software the year Quake was released, in 1996, having fallen out with co-founder John Carmack. Today Romero has his own studio in Ireland, co-owned with his wife Brenda Romero, who&#8217;s had an illustrious career in games herself. Romero Games was rocked last year when Xbox pulled funding for a shooter it was making, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/doom-creator-john-romeros-cancelled-shooter-has-been-saved-with-fresh-redesign-inspired-by-elden-ring\">causing the project to be redesigned in order to survive<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Quake turns 30 years old this year and Bethesda gave it a surprise birthday present overnight in the shape of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/quake-expansion-dawn-of-the-machine-quakecon\">a brand new expansion, Dawn of the Machine<\/a>. But it&#8217;s not all birthday cakes and celebrations at id Software right now as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/what-sense-to-make-from-id-software-layoffs-microsoft-xbox\">it reels from the latest wave of devastating cuts to restructure the Xbox division<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"poll_wrapper\" data-fixed=\"true\" data-hashid data-init=\"false\" data-poll-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"preferred-source\" data-component=\"preferred-source\">\nLove Eurogamer.net? Make us a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\">Preferred Source on Google<\/a> and catch more of our coverage in your feeds.  <\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>John Romero, the legendarily long-haired co-founder of id Software and father of game series  Quake and Doom, has recounted a tale about when id Software worked with Taiwanese pirates to spread Doom.<\/p>\n<p>The tale belongs to the 80s and early 90s, when games used a Shareware business model. The first part of a game was released for free and you could order the rest of it from a company for a fee. It was the model id Software used for Wolfenstein, and then for Doom.<\/p>\n<p>Because there was nothing preventing pirates from copying and reselling Shareware versions of a game as their own, they did, and a cottage industry sprang up around it. &#8220;You would go to the store and you would see 10 different boxes that all had the same shareware Doom in it,&#8221; Romero recounted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=AjrLz30fEZc\">in a QuakeCon 2026 panel<\/a> at around the 20-minute mark (picked up by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/games\/fps\/john-romero-says-id-software-once-sold-empty-doom-boxes-to-taiwanese-pirates-so-fans-there-could-have-legit-copies-for-us-it-was-distribution\/\">PC Gamer<\/a>). &#8220;It was awesome. We were totally happy with that.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"Quake: Dawn of the Machine - Official Launch Trailer\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WgTzgn9MJZo?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/WgTzgn9MJZo\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">Quake: Dawn of the Machine &#8211; Official Launch Trailer<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>Quake got a surprise new expansion overnight.<a class=\"video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=WgTzgn9MJZo\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Why was id Software happy?  Because game-pirates were effectively doing distribution for the game &#8211; and in a region id Software wasn&#8217;t as familiar with. &#8220;We knew in Taiwan that they were copying it, 100 percent,&#8221; Romero said. &#8220;That was the market back then.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>But instead of trying to fight it, id Software leant into it, harnessing the reach those pirates already had in order to spread the game. &#8220;So we contacted the biggest pirates there and went, &#8216;Can you buy boxes from us? Really cheap; really really cheap.&#8217; So they bought tons of boxes off of us so it would be legitimate.&#8221; The message was simple: &#8220;Please do it. Don&#8217;t give us any money. Just get it out there.<\/p>\n<p>It was in id Software&#8217;s interest to support the illegitimate practice. &#8220;We made money when people would actually order the rest of the game,&#8221; Romero said. It also helped the studio establish a fanbase in the region  that presumably be interested in the other games it made. &#8220;For us it was: distribution is king.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s a refreshing revelation in an industry that&#8217;s fought long and hard against piracy, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/gog-playstation-discs-game-ownership\">often burdening players<\/a> with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/crimson-desert-adds-denuvo-drm-to-steam-release\">fussy copy protection systems<\/a> in order to minimise the piracy opportunities. It&#8217;s a battle that&#8217;s only recently tipped in game-makers&#8217; favour because of internet-required logins.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"Quake \u201cDawn of the Machine\u201d | 30 Years w\/ John Romero + Marty Stratton &amp; MachineGames\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/AjrLz30fEZc?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/AjrLz30fEZc\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">Quake \u201cDawn of the Machine\u201d | 30 Years w\/ John Romero + Marty Stratton &amp; MachineGames<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>Here&#8217;s John Romero on stage at QuakeCon sharing his anecdotes.<a class=\"video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=AjrLz30fEZc\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&#8220;We came from an era in the 80s where, man, copy protection was a war,&#8221; Romero recalled. &#8220;But there were some publishers back then that did not do that, and we really respected those publishers. But there&#8217;s always been a war that&#8217;s never been won with copy protection, so we didn&#8217;t want to waste our time with that.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"2\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;If people want to copy it, they&#8217;re going to copy it. They might buy it sometime later, but we knew we didn&#8217;t have money for everything that we were playing, so we&#8217;re like, &#8216;Let&#8217;s not copy protect it.&#8217; If people want to play it, they&#8217;ll figure out how to play it. We only needed enough to make the next game.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>John Romero left id Software the year Quake was released, in 1996, having fallen out with co-founder John Carmack. Today Romero has his own studio in Ireland, co-owned with his wife Brenda Romero, who&#8217;s had an illustrious career in games herself. Romero Games was rocked last year when Xbox pulled funding for a shooter it was making, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/doom-creator-john-romeros-cancelled-shooter-has-been-saved-with-fresh-redesign-inspired-by-elden-ring\">causing the project to be redesigned in order to survive<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Quake turns 30 years old this year and Bethesda gave it a surprise birthday present overnight in the shape of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/quake-expansion-dawn-of-the-machine-quakecon\">a brand new expansion, Dawn of the Machine<\/a>. But it&#8217;s not all birthday cakes and celebrations at id Software right now as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/what-sense-to-make-from-id-software-layoffs-microsoft-xbox\">it reels from the latest wave of devastating cuts to restructure the Xbox division<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"poll_wrapper\" data-fixed=\"true\" data-hashid data-init=\"false\" data-poll-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home News Doom creator id Software used Taiwanese pirates to help distribute the game, John Romero reveals Amassing avast audience. Image credit: Eurogamer \/ John Romero News by Robert Purchese Associate Editor Published on Aug. 7, 2026, noon Follow Doom John Romero, the legendarily long-haired co-founder of id Software and father of game series Quake [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,253],"class_list":["post-2082111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-eurogamer-net"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2082111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2082111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2082111\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2082111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2082111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2082111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}