Id Software’s Second FPS Game Only Grossed $5,000
Today, Id Software, a studio known for making its mark on gaming history with titles like Doom, Quake, and Wolfenstein, didn’t always have a history filled with great success stories. A new retrospective video shared by John Romero, one of the studio’s founders, has brought back into focus a project that played a critical role in shaping the FPS genre but received almost no commercial success. This project, with both its technical prowess and financial return, constitutes one of the most interesting turning points in gaming history.
The Place of Catacomb 3-D in Id Software’s FPS Journey
Developed in 1991, Catacomb 3-D stands out as id Software’s second first-person shooter game after Hovertank One. At a time when the concept of FPS hadn’t even been defined as a genre, the team took a radical step with this perspective that placed the player directly in the world from the character’s point of view. This perspective, chosen due to technical limitations, would later become the standard for the entire genre.
However, this innovative approach did not translate into commercial success. According to John Romero, Catacomb 3-D only generated approximately $5,000 in revenue under the Gamer’s Edge deal with Softdisk. For a project that a six-person team worked on for two months, this was almost symbolic. During the same period, the Commander Keen series garnered far more attention and remained the studio’s main source of income.
Nevertheless, Catacomb 3-D created a significant buzz within the studio. The “immersive” feeling the game created was a turning point for the team. John Carmack and Adrian Carmack’s instinctive reaction to an enemy suddenly appearing on screen clearly demonstrated the powerful impact this new perspective had on the player. That moment was proof that they had moved beyond two-dimensional sprites.
Following this experience, Id Software shelved Commander Keen 7, shifting its focus entirely to the idea of three-dimensional action. Wolfenstein 3-D soon followed, then Doom and Quake. The idea behind these games, considered the cornerstones of the FPS genre today, blossomed with Catacomb 3-D, a game that could be considered a commercial failure. As Romero himself said, the foundation of the modern FPS concept was actually laid with this humble project that only earned $5,000.
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