A legendary developer is convinced that games like Clair Obscur and Baldur’s Gate are advancing the gaming industry and inspiring AAA developers with new ideas.
Who is the father of first-person shooters? It was the year 1991 when four men in Texas founded the development studio id Software. One of these men is John Romero.
In the following years, id Software released games like Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Quake, significantly advancing the first-person shooter genre. Since then, Romero, along with John Carmack – also one of the founders of id Software – has been regarded as one of the fathers of the shooter genre.
Romero is said to have played a crucial role in shaping the games through innovative approaches and his focus on gameplay.
Indie developers are advancing the gaming industry
On July 21, Romero was a guest on Nightdive Studios’ “Deep-Dive” podcast, where he discussed the gaming industry with Larry Kuperman. After about 40 minutes, Kuperman asked what Romero thinks about the current state of game development. The podcast episode is also available on YouTube.
This is what Romero says: Romero observes that the gaming industry is much larger than it used to be when he was designing games like Quake and Doom with id Software. He elaborates on how massive the indie community is and how many games are released each month on Steam or itch.io.
Even when looking at the Game Awards, Romero says, one would find that half of the awards go to indie developers and games like Balatro.
Kuperman brought up games like Baldur’s Gate 3, Helldivers 2, and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, to which Romero concluded: “These people are the ones who make the AAA companies say, ‘Oh, wait. We need to do this too.'”
What does this mean for the gaming industry? Romero is convinced that games like Clair Obscur and Baldur’s Gate 3 can make big studios and publishers rethink and inspire them with great game design.
Indie developers now have an easier time than before releasing their games and can reach a large audience when the finished game is fun.
In 2025, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 achieved exactly that. The game was on everyone’s lips for weeks, and gamers, critics, and other developers alike praised it. For some players, the game even left a special feeling: After Expedition 33, players feel empty: “I will never find something like this again”
