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During his talk at GDC 2022, John Romero revealed the story of Sierra's near-acquisition of id Software saying that the $2.5 million deal fell apart over the request for an advance of $100,000.
Yesterday, during his talk at GDC 2022, John Romero who co-founded id Software, the developer behind DOOM and Wolfenstein, shared that legendary Roberta and Ken Williams of Sierra Entertainment could have owned the studio.
In his session, while discussing the development of Wolfenstein 3D, Romero revealed the story of Sierra's near-acquisition of id Software. According to the creator, King's Quest, a graphic adventure from Sierra Entertainment, has always been one of his favorite video games and during the early days of the studio, he ventured to establish communication with the Williams' company. He said that he even sent them copies of Commander Keen games.
Romero noted that Roberta Williams was impressed with the games and invited id Software to their office "to talk business". The id Software's team visited Sierra's office in California and showed Ken and Roberta Williams an early version of Wolfenstein 3D which would ultimately be the basis for the birth of a new and successful genre.
However, Ken wasn't really impressed by it. Romero recalls being "dumbfounded" by his response. "After about 30 seconds of watching, he wanted to show me the new game they were working on, Red Baron Online," said Romero. "Here's the future, the start of a new genre: the first-person shooter. And Ken could not pay it any notice."
Despite the lack of interest in Wolfenstein 3D, Sierra Entertainment considered that they could do a good deal with id Software and offered to acquire the company for $2.5 million in company stock. Romero's response was positive, saying that he was thrilled by the offer, but given the need for money, he asked for an extra $100,000 in cash upfront. "Ken thought about it for a second, then he was like, 'No thanks, but good luck with everything.' So the 100k was a little too rich for him," shared Romero.
The companies' paths did not cross again. Sierra On-Line was acquired by CUC International which eventually led it to closure. Meanwhile, id Software made its own way. In 1993, the studio released DOOM which changed the history of video games and made id Software one of the most famous studios ever.
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