DOOM + QUAKE
In the early 1990s, DOOM was already breaking ground as a visceral, immersive gameplay experience but its branding and marketing didn’t reflect what was happening inside the screen.
After discovering an early build of DOOM, we reached out directly to id Software founders John Romero and John Carmack. The pitch was simple: the experience was groundbreaking, but the image didn’t match the impact.
They agreed. And a four-year partnership began.
We reimagined DOOM through the lens of film and music, not as a “gaming software" title, but as a cultural event. Breaking from the graphics-focused conventions of the gaming industry, we built campaigns that positioned the game with the scale and presence of a blockbuster franchise or major album release.
The approach clashed with publisher GTI, but aligned perfectly with the ambitions of the founders. By 1995, DOOM was the most popular computer game in the world.
id’s follow-up, QUAKE, debuted in 1996 with a soundtrack by Trent Reznor — and the brand language we developed extended into packaging, advertising, and cultural strategy.
Our work on DOOM and QUAKE helped set a new bar for game marketing — treating titles not as products, but as cultural artifacts with the power to define a generation.
After discovering an early build of DOOM, we reached out directly to id Software founders John Romero and John Carmack. The pitch was simple: the experience was groundbreaking, but the image didn’t match the impact.
They agreed. And a four-year partnership began.
We reimagined DOOM through the lens of film and music, not as a “gaming software" title, but as a cultural event. Breaking from the graphics-focused conventions of the gaming industry, we built campaigns that positioned the game with the scale and presence of a blockbuster franchise or major album release.
The approach clashed with publisher GTI, but aligned perfectly with the ambitions of the founders. By 1995, DOOM was the most popular computer game in the world.
id’s follow-up, QUAKE, debuted in 1996 with a soundtrack by Trent Reznor — and the brand language we developed extended into packaging, advertising, and cultural strategy.
Our work on DOOM and QUAKE helped set a new bar for game marketing — treating titles not as products, but as cultural artifacts with the power to define a generation.