Timeline

Below is a timeline of primary or canonical Doom-related events which tie the games to their creators and the world at large. For community releases, see the timeline of mod releases and timeline of source port releases respectively.

Before 1993

 * October 28, 1967 - John Romero is born.
 * August 20, 1970 - John Carmack is born.
 * 1990 - Brothers Brian and Steve Raffel found Raven Software.
 * December 14, 1990 - The first episode of Commander Keen (Marooned on Mars) is released.
 * February 1, 1991 - id Software is officially formed.
 * May 5, 1992 - Wolfenstein 3D is released.
 * September 1992 - The making of Doom begins.

1993

 * February 4 - Doom 0.2 alpha released privately.
 * February 28 - Doom 0.3 alpha released to limited industry professionals.
 * April 2 - Doom 0.4 alpha released privately.
 * May 22 - Doom 0.5 alpha released privately.
 * July 7 (circa) - Tom Hall is forced to resign from id Software.
 * October 4 - Doom press release beta released.
 * December 10 - Doom 0.99 (aka 1.0) shareware is released.

1994

 * January 26 - The first version of the Doom Editing Utilities is released.
 * March - The idgames archive is founded by Barry Bloom at.
 * March 7 - The first public third-party PWAD, the Origwad, is released.
 * May 12 - The idgames archive moves to.
 * September 30 - Doom II is released.
 * November - Doom's first console ports are released for the Sega 32X and Atari Jaguar.
 * November 3 - The idgames archive temporarily moves to.
 * November 14 - The Usenet newsgroup hierarchy is created after a vote of, on average, 378-89 by users of the  hierarchy.
 * December - The idgames archive moves to Walnut Creek CD-ROM at.
 * December 21 - Rise of the Triad Shareware is released.
 * December 23 - Heretic is released.

1995

 * April 30 - Ultimate Doom is released.
 * June - The first Doom novel is published.
 * September 1 - Doom is released for the Super Nintendo.
 * October 28 - TNT: Evilution is announced delayed in favor of a commercial release as one half of Final Doom.
 * October 30 - Hexen is released.
 * November 16 - Doom is released on the Sony PlayStation.
 * December 26 - The Master Levels for Doom II are released.
 * Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders is released.

1996

 * January 29 - Duke Nukem 3D is released.
 * April 26 - Doom is released for the 3DO.
 * May 31 - Strife is released.
 * June 17 - Final Doom is released.
 * June 22 - Quake is released.
 * August 6 - John Romero is fired from id Software.
 * August 20 - Doom95 is released.
 * October 1 - Final Doom is released for the Sony PlayStation.
 * Chex Quest is released in boxes of Chex cereal.
 * Hexen: Deathkings of the Dark Citadel is released.
 * id Anthology is released, along with the infamous Doom comic contained within.

1997

 * March 26 - Doom is released for the Sega Saturn in the US.
 * March 31 - Doom 64 is released.
 * April 30 - Hexen for the Sega Saturn is released in the US.
 * May 1 - The Doom Music album is released.
 * June 24 - Hexen for Nintendo 64 is released.
 * September - Reaper Miniatures releases a line of Doom miniatures.
 * Fall - The Depths of Doom Trilogy combination pack is released.
 * December 23 - The Doom source code is released.
 * Hacx is released.

1998

 * March 13 - The Doom news site Doomworld is founded.
 * releases the Quake and the Ultimate Doom Compilation in European markets.

1999

 * January 11 - Raven Software releases the source code for Heretic and Hexen.
 * April 20 - The Columbine High School Massacre occurs.
 * October 3 - The source code for Doom is re-released under the General Public Licence (GPL) by John Carmack, thanks to persuasion by Andrew "Linguica" Stine.

2000

 * June 1 - John Carmack mentions in his file that id Software has begun a new Doom project.
 * June 2 - The Doom news site New Doom is founded.

2001

 * September - The Ultimate Doom Trilogy: Collector's Edition combination pack is released, including all four official Doom IWADs and Doom95.
 * September 21 - Management of attempts to gain control over the idgames archive and related archives.
 * October 11 - The idgames archive et all move to (a.k.a. ).
 * October 26 - Doom for Game Boy Advance is released.

2002

 * October 23 - Doom II for Game Boy Advance is released.

2003

 * January 29 - The Ultimate Doom Trilogy: Collector's Edition combination pack is re-released with Doom 3 promotional material.
 * April - The Jaguar Doom source code is released.
 * May 6 - Masters of Doom, by David Kushner, is published.

2004

 * August 3 - Doom 3 is made available in the US.
 * Doom: The Boardgame is released.

2005

 * January 5 - The Doom Wiki begins.
 * April 4 - Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil is released.
 * September 13 - Doom RPG is released.
 * September 27 - Adrian Carmack alleges he was forced out of id Software, and files suit against the company.
 * October 21 - The Doom movie premieres in the US.
 * Doom: The Boardgame Expansion Set is released.

2006

 * February 7 - Doom movie DVD is released, along with a series of merchandise based on it.
 * September 27 - Ultimate Doom is released on the Xbox 360 Live Arcade worldwide.

2007

 * August 3 - Every Doom game is released on Steam, along with various Doom and Doom 3 engine games.

2008

 * February 26 - The first Doom 3 novel, Doom 3: Worlds on Fire is published.
 * May 7 - id Software announces that Doom 4 is being developed.
 * September 4 - Raven Software re-releases the source code for Heretic and Hexen under the GNU GPL.

2009

 * March 31 - The second Doom 3 novel, Doom 3: Maelstrom is published.
 * June 24 - id Software is purchased by ZeniMax Media.
 * June 26 - Doom Resurrection is released for the iPhone OS.
 * October 31 - Doom Classic, a port of Ultimate Doom, is released for the iPhone OS.

2010

 * February 8 - Doom II RPG is released.
 * May 26 - Doom II is released on the Xbox 360 Live Arcade in the US along with the included new episode, No Rest for the Living.
 * September - Doom is delisted from the XBLA due to conflict of licensing rights between and Bethesda.

2011

 * February 17 - Doom Wiki forked from Wikia Inc.
 * September 5 - at doomwiki.org.
 * November 22 - The Doom 3 source code is released.

2012

 * January 18 - The Xbox 360 Doom returns to Xbox Live Arcade after over a year of absence caused by licensing issues.
 * October 16 - Doom 3: BFG Edition is released on the US market. The international market follows three days later.
 * November 3 to December 3 - On Steam, the Doom Pack Complete and Super id Software Pack compilation have been removed, and the Doom Classic Complete and Doom 3 Pack introduced. The Master Levels are no longer bundled with Doom II.
 * November 20 - The compilation pack Doom Classic Complete is released on the PlayStation Network.

2013

 * April 3 - Kotaku publishes an article with confirmation from id Software staff that Doom 4 has not only been delayed but entirely restarted.
 * June 26 - Todd Hollenshead announces his resignation as president of id Software.
 * August 1 - QuakeCon 2013 begins, featuring the 20th Anniversary Doom Challenge deathmatch tournament, using Odamex. Bethesda releases commemorative Doom-themed shot glasses, prints, t-shirts, and a 200-count limited edition cast of the Reaper Miniatures set as part of the event.
 * November 23 - John Carmack announces his resignation from id Software.
 * December 10 - The twentieth anniversary of Doom's release is celebrated.

2014

 * February - Bethesda announces early beta access to Doom 4 as a pre-order bonus for , with stipulation that the game was not yet ready for testing and that participants will be contacted later.
 * May 1 - ZeniMax Media releases public accusations against John Carmack and, claiming the latter have made use of stolen intellectual property. Carmack fires back several tweets flatly denying their claims.
 * May 5 - Oculus VR releases a public refutation of the claims made by ZeniMax.
 * May 21 - ZeniMax Media and id Software file suit against Oculus VR in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
 * June 13 - Bethesda exhibits a "teaser trailer" for Doom 4 at, with promise of a soon-to-follow reveal. After a few days, it was clarified that the reveal would be exclusive to attendees of the upcoming QuakeCon 2014.
 * July 17 - Bethedsa and id Software display the Doom 4 reveal to QuakeCon attendees, featuring live game play.
 * September 29 - Doom 4 appears as a pre-order item on Amazon.com, with a tentative release date of December 31, 2015.
 * November 30 - The 3DO source code is released.
 * December 12 - Strife: Veteran Edition is released on Steam.

2015

 * March 1 - The New Doom website and forums were taken offline.
 * April 21 - John Romero released the source code of DoomEd, the internal editor developed by id to build the original games, as well as the text-format DWD files from which the maps were originally compiled, and many of the game's development assets. See 2015 Doom source data release for full information.
 * May 18 - Bethesda announced that a public reveal of the next installment in the Doom series would be held at E3 2015, and released an 11-second teaser video.
 * June 4 - Doom is inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame in the first year of its operation, alongside Pong, Tetris, Pac-Man, Super Mario Bros., and World of Warcraft. Among qualities cited were its introduction of the concept of the game engine, its inclusion of multiplayer, its astounding commercial success, and its enduring impact on the genre of the first-person shooter.
 * June 14 - The first-ever Bethesda E3 conference was held, with the worldwide public premiere of the new Doom game as the headline event.
 * July 23 - The multiplayer component of the upcoming Doom is offered for live play at.
 * August 3 - The Doom v0.3 alpha, previously thought lost, was uploaded to the idgames archive.
 * August 26 - Bethesda starts publishing its catalog on GOG, including the classic Doom titles and Quake
 * October 23 - id Software begins a series of closed alpha tests of the upcoming Doom game, with participation of a subset of gamers eligible to participate in the upcoming beta.

2016

 * February 4 - Bethesda sets a target release date of May 13, 2016, for the then-upcoming Doom.