id Software

Computer software company that publishes popular games such as Doom and Quake, based in Texas, USA. An entire subculture has built up around id's games because of its habit of releasing source code to enable fans to write their own additional game levels using settings of their own choice.

The company's first major product was the 1992 game Wolfenstein 3-D, in which players move around a series of complicated mazes retrieving treasure and shooting Nazi troops and guard dogs. Quake, released in 1996, uses complex, carefully styled 3-D graphics, adds vertical movement and underwater caves, and includes a gruesome collection of fierce aliens. Both Doom and Quake can be played competitively over networks, including the Internet.