Masters of Doom

David Kushner's 2003 account follows id Software, the studio that made Commander Keen, Wolfenstein 3D, Doom and Quake. At its centre are the two co-founders: John Carmack, a programmer of intense technical focus, and John Romero, a designer with a rock-star streak and a showman's instincts.

Kushner traces how the two built a company that pushed the limits of personal computers. Along the way the studio helped shape the first-person shooter, shareware distribution and online multiplayer play.

The partnership is strained from within. Carmack cares most about engineering, while Romero chases creative ambitions of his own, and the gap between them widens. Romero eventually leaves id, then starts Ion Storm, whose rise and collapse the book also follows.

This is non-fiction that works as business history and character study together. It is useful for anyone curious about how early game studios operated, and about how two young programmers turned a hobby into a cultural force.