Pushing Boundaries | John Romero Interview

John Romero is commonly held as the father of FPS games as we know it, creating Wolfenstein, Doom, and many others. Romero is currently working on Empire of Sin with XCOM director Greg Foertsch. I was lucky enough to catch up with John at Game Anglia and got talking about his early days starting out, the ups and downs through the years, and his latest studio ‘Romero Games’ where they are currently working on an all-new FPS Blackroom. We also discuss the recent release of Gunman Taco Truck, a game built with his son Donovan.

To be honest, I was a little awestruck meeting John and his wife Brenda Romero. I had built both of them up so much in my mind as gaming icons, that I was more nervous of them than anyone else at the event. These people changed the trajectory of my life and they hadn’t a clue. Being part of the first generation of gamers and playing through Atari’s, Commodores, Amigas, Megadrive, PCs, and others, we absorbed up every game. Wolfenstein and Doom were turning points in gaming that planted our hearts well and truly in gaming.

I’m sure my interview won’t be to everyone’s tastes, but I hope you find some elements useful and glean some insights if you are just starting out in game development.

Don’t forget to check out my other interview in the developer interviews category on the site.