Sandy Petersen: 'Quake ruined id Software' on its 30th anniversary
On Quake’s 30th anniversary (June 22, 2026), co-designer Sandy Petersen wrote on X that although Quake was an 'amazing feat' of art, programming and design, the project 'broke us spiritually' and led many early staff to leave id Software.
Marking Quake’s 30th anniversary on June 22, 2026, co-designer Sandy Petersen posted on X that “Quake ruined id Software.” He praised the game as “an amazing feat of art, programming, and design” and credited the team for doing “a brilliant job,” but said the intense workload left them burned out. Petersen listed several colleagues who left id within a couple of years of finishing Quake — John Romero, Shawn Green, Dave Taylor, Mike Abrash, American McGee, and himself — noting they all went on to long careers, so their departures weren’t about ability. “Id Software was never the same after,” he wrote, adding that, in his opinion, the only other truly great id game was Quake III, and it didn’t match the level of the pre-Quake titles.
