Doom creator John Romero on gaming's future: 'The industry has mostly always gone up'

Doom creator John Romero shares words of optimism for the future of the games industry, and game development at large.

2

On the surface level, the video games industry seems tumultuous right now. Companies are laying off people by the hundreds, shutting down game studios, and canceling projects. On the tech side, AI could erase some jobs altogether. But it's not all bad, and the reality is that gaming is bigger than it's ever been before--gaming is expected to earn $189 billion this year.

That's the sentiment that immortal FPS legend John Romero offers game developers new and young. In a recent interview with the Deep Dive series, Romero says it's never been easier to make and release games, highlighting the opportunities that are available now. But you still have to make a good game because the competition is much fiercer in the modern arena.

"The industry has mostly always gone up.

"The amount of people playing games is massive. The industry was really small back when I started, but it is so huge that games are part of everything you do in life.

"You can play games anywhere that you want to play them, on anything really. There's so many...you can make a game now and put it out there for people to get it. Distribution is nothing now--back in the day, no way, getting on a disc, that was expensive! Forget it, you're never going to do that as an indie.

"Now it's all about discovery, how is somebody going to see your stuff.

"That really is down to being a great game design, because we do not have a technology problem any more. Technology is solved. Download Unreal Engine for free, make a game with it, put it out for free."

Artificial intelligence could empower game creators with even more tools for games development, and on the consumer side, users may be able to interact directly with chat bots to change gameplay in real time.

Unfortunately, John Romero's game studio, Romero Games, had funding cut for its new first-person shooter project. Romero is currently shopping the project around to seek new partners, and multiple publishers are interested in working with the studio on the FPS.