id Software showed Ken Williams an early version of Wolfenstein 3D, and Romero recalls being “baffled” by his response.
“After about 30 seconds of watching, he wanted to show me the new game they were working on, Red Baron Online,” Romero said. “I was amazed. Here is the future, the dawn of a new genre: the first-person shooter. And Ken couldn’t pay any attention to him.”
For his part, Williams was reportedly shocked to hear that id Software was making $50,000 a month from its shareware model, which gained popularity in the early ’90s. He offered to purchase id Software for $2.5 million in company stock.
According to Romero, id Software was excited about the offer but decided to ask for an additional $100,000 in cash upfront.
“Ken thought about it for a second, then he said, ‘No thanks, but good luck with everything.’ So 100,000 was a bit too high for him,” says Romero.
Wildly divergent destinies
The fortunes of Sierra On-Line and id Software diverged widely after this encounter. Just a few years later, Sierra On-Line was acquired by CUC International, putting it on the path to collapse and closure. Meanwhile, id Software made DOOM, which propelled it into the ranks of the most famous studios of all time, which was later acquired by Bethesda and eventually Xbox.
Had id Software decided to go ahead with the deal, it might have met the fate of Red Baron developer Dynamix, which was shut down in 2001 as part of a reorganization. Either that, or DOOM’s success could have deterred Sierra On-Line from its fateful acquisition. However, gaming history could have been very different.
Coincidentally, Ken and Roberta Williams recently returned to the gaming industry after a long hiatus. They are currently working on Colossal Cave 3D – a massive update of the classic 1970’s text adventure. As for Romero, he recently created a new level for DOOM 2, with all proceeds going to help refugees from the Ukraine conflict.
Kat Bailey is Senior News Editor at IGN and co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Do you have a tip? Send her a DM @the_katbot.
https://www.ign.com/articles/id-software-sierra-online-gdc-2022 John Romero recalls how Sierra On-Line almost took over id software in one of the biggest “what if” games