id Software first gained notoriety with the first Wolfenstein 3D game in 1992, widely considered one of the original first person shooters. A few years later, they released Doom, which became an instant classic and helped redefine the entire face of video gaming. One of the hottest games of the year, it sold millions of copies and ushered in the era of mainstream hardcore PC gaming. It put the player in the middle of a space station seemingly overrun by demons from a gateway to hell. The sole mission: survive the nightmare by blasting your way out of the many levels with all manner of different weapons.
In 1994 it won Game of the Year and several other awards. It also introduced multiplayer gaming to the masses, allowing up to 4 to battle it out head to head over the internet or a network. They also freely released the source code so that fans and would-be designers could create their own levels and additions, which became known as “mods”, fostering an endless growing community dedicated to the game. Today the game still lives on in Doom 3, which was released in 2004.