QUAKED: Quake is now 30 years old, and developers who worked on the game are sharing interesting behind-the-scenes details about the project. According to Call of Cthulhu creator Sandy Petersen, the world's first fully 3D shooter was so demanding that it drained too much energy from the team and ultimately contributed to internal burnout.
id Software and GT Interactive released Quake in 1996, marking a significant evolution in the first-person shooter genre just three years after Doom. Sandy Petersen, one of the studio's original designers from the Doom era, said that developing the first "true" 3D FPS took a heavy toll on the team.
Petersen said in a recent X thread that making Quake essentially "ruined" id Software. He added that the game deserves all the praise it is receiving for its 30th anniversary, calling it an impressive achievement in art, programming, and design. The result was a fast-paced action game that is still regarded as influential three decades later.
However, he also described the cost of creating such an unprecedented title as "grim." According to Petersen, id Software worked so intensely on Quake that the team was "spiritually" broken by the end of development. Within a couple of years after its release, several key figures, including John Romero, American McGee, and Petersen himself, had left id Software to pursue independent careers in the gaming industry.
