Heading into QuakeCon 2026, there had been legitimate reasons to wonder how the weekend might go. John Carmack and John Romero had spent years having their creative differences analysed, dramatised, and relitigated in gaming culture. Adrian Carmack filed a lawsuit against id Software in 2005 following his departure. And just four weeks before the doors opened in Grapevine, Texas, Microsoft’s Xbox division had laid off approximately 136 people from id Software — roughly half the studio — in a restructuring that Carmack himself said would “dampen the mood.”
It didn’t.
What the Founders Did Together
QuakeCon 2026 ran from 6 to 9 August at the Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine, Texas, marking the 30th anniversary of Quake — the game that gave the convention its name. It was also id Software’s 35th year as a company. The occasion brought all four of the studio’s co-founders into the same room for the first time since the early 1990s: Adrian Carmack, John Carmack, Tom Hall, and John Romero.
The founders appeared together for a panel moderated by games writer David Craddock — and they were joined by Donna Jackson, the “id mom,” who was hired in January 1994 to manage the studio and is still credited as “Office Manager and id Mom” in Doom: The Dark Ages, id’s most recent release. The panel included a look at original Doom design notes from the early 1990s, which Tom Hall later reposted with the word “amazing.”
Why This Took So Long
The four co-founders of id Software built Commander Keen, Wolfenstein 3D, DOOM, and Quake together during one of the most explosive creative periods in PC gaming history. By the mid-1990s, they had largely gone their separate ways — and some of those departures were contentious.
Tom Hall left during the production of DOOM in 1993 following creative disagreements. John Romero was fired in 1996. Adrian Carmack departed in 2004 and later sued the company over his removal. American McGee — a key early developer, though not a co-founder — was let go in 1998. Each departure carried its own circumstances, and in some cases its own lasting bitterness.
But time passes. Romero and John Carmack had already appeared together for Doom’s 35th anniversary stream. Brenda Romero — co-founder of Romero Games with her husband John — had described the differences between the two Johns as “over-dramatized” by outside coverage. QuakeCon 2026 was the moment where all four could stand in the same space again, and apparently they all wanted to.
The Xbox Layoffs Hung Over It
The reunion came in the shadow of the worst workforce reduction in id Software’s history. On 8 July 2026, Microsoft’s Xbox division cut approximately 136 positions at the studio as part of a wider restructuring that ultimately eliminated more than 3,200 roles across the gaming division. id Software confirmed the cuts and noted that the remaining team was “about the same size we were when making DOOM (2016).”
John Carmack acknowledged in advance that the layoffs would “dampen the mood” of the occasion. At the event itself, the founders kept any public expression of that sentiment contained. The atmosphere, as far as can be told from the social media posts that followed, was genuine and warm.
Quake: Dawn of the Machine — a Free 19-Map Bonus
The weekend also delivered a substantial gaming release: Quake: Dawn of the Machine, a free 19-map episode developed by MachineGames — the Swedish studio behind the Wolfenstein series — in collaboration with id Software. It’s available immediately for all Quake owners on Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch 2, and it serves as the primary gaming anchor of the 30th anniversary celebration.
What the Founders Said When It Was Over
The post-event social media posts from all four co-founders were warmer than many had expected given the history and the circumstances surrounding the weekend.
“This was one of the best times of my life. Truly. I haven’t seen John Carmack in 20 years. I was so damn excited and it surpassed my expectations. We haven’t all been together since ’94. Damn.” — Adrian Carmack
John Carmack wrote on X: “QuakeCon was fantastic this year, especially reuniting with the original founders!” Romero Games — John and Brenda Romero’s studio — posted on Bluesky: “Thank you so much for the best weekend ever. ❤️”
Even American McGee, who was fired from id Software in 1998 under difficult circumstances, shared warm thoughts — crediting Carmack and Romero for experiences that had transformed his life “beyond imagination.” It was, in a word, nice.
