John Carmack and John Romero’s public reunions have softened the familiar story of a bitter split, but they have not erased it or announced a return to game development. In 2023, the two revisited Doom’s creation at a 30th-anniversary livestream; in 2026, they joined id Software’s other founders for a broader QuakeCon retrospective. Their accounts point to affection and pride alongside a professional partnership that ended—and leave some parts of that history unexplored.
Are John Carmack and John Romero still friends?
Romero says they are. In his 2023 autobiography, Doom Guy: Life in First Person, he wrote: “The truth is that Carmack and I were friends, and we cared about each other, and we still do.” He also objected to the way the split is often framed: “It’s written in polarizing terms, ‘animosity’ being a favorite, with one of us pitted against the other because that just makes for a better story.” PC Gamer previewed the memoir in November 2023.
That is Romero’s recollection, not proof that every disagreement was minor or that the end of their professional partnership was uncomplicated. Brenda Romero, his wife and Romero Games co-founder, told PC Gamer that despite the breakup’s “over-dramatized nature,” the two “have remained friends and have deep respect for one another’s work.” The public picture is therefore more nuanced than a simple feud, while the available accounts do not establish every private detail.
Why did John Romero leave id Software?
The material discussed in the reunions does not offer a complete, agreed explanation for Romero’s departure. It is more useful to distinguish the partnership ending from the later public story about it: Romero has challenged the emphasis on animosity, while the 2026 QuakeCon retrospective largely avoided the dissolution itself. Neither event amounts to a definitive account of why the partnership ended.
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For readers who want a longer first-person account, Romero’s Doom Guy: Life in First Person is directly relevant. David Kushner’s Masters of Doom offers a published history of id Software’s early years and can be read alongside Romero’s recollection rather than as a substitute for it.
What happened at the 2023 Doom reunion?
On December 10, 2023, Carmack and Romero joined a moderated livestream marking Doom’s 30th anniversary. Video-game historian David Craddock led the discussion, which revisited the game’s development, design choices, technical limits, multiplayer and continuing legacy. It was a retrospective conversation—not an announcement that the two were building another game. PC Gamer’s event recap covered the discussion.
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The creative and technical trade-offs behind Doom
The conversation included criticism as well as celebration. Carmack discussed graphical effects he wished Doom had included. Romero described the game as reaching a technical “sweet spot” before the move toward full 3D made development more complicated. Their reflections also touched on map complexity, enemy counts, aesthetic choices and the constraints that shaped the finished game.
Carmack said he was “very proud of the things that we built back then and that they have this legacy that’s lasted to this day.” Romero thanked the community for keeping Doom alive and for continuing to play their games. Those statements show shared pride in the work without implying that the men agree on every part of their history.
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Did Carmack and Romero make up—and are they making a new Doom game?
The 2023 reunion demonstrated public cordiality, but “make up” suggests a specific rupture and reconciliation that the event did not document. Carmack had already made his position on a new collaboration explicit in a July 2023 statement reported by PC Gamer: “To preempt the inevitable question, no, we aren’t planning to make a new game together.” He also wished Romero well. That was the public position reported at the time; it is not a claim about every future possibility. PC Gamer reported Carmack’s comments.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What did the 2026 QuakeCon reunion add?
In 2026, all four id Software founders—John Romero, John Carmack, Adrian Carmack and Tom Hall—reunited for a three-hour QuakeCon panel. As GamesBeat reported, the conversation walked chronologically through their shared history, from Softdisk and Commander Keen to Wolfenstein 3D, Doom and Quake. It broadened the frame beyond the two Johns to the studio and its founding team.
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Carmack described the lasting life of the games this way: “It’s a rare and wonderful thing to have something that has the legs to be extended and revisited and remastered and live on in people’s memories.” But the panel was not a comprehensive reckoning with the founders’ split: GamesBeat noted that it largely focused on their successes and steered clear of the partnership’s dissolution. The reunion adds perspective on id Software’s history, not a final verdict on its ending.
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