Blackroom (video game)

Lore & Background

Blackroom was conceived by John Romero as early as 2012, when he mentioned the idea on Twitter. In 2014, he confirmed he was creating a new first-person shooter, stating 'I haven't made a shooter since 2000 Daikatana. So I'm basically starting to work on another one.' In January 2016, Romero declined to discuss the game, calling it 'a really cool idea, an original idea' that he had never seen before. The game was officially announced on April 25, 2016, alongside a Kickstarter campaign seeking $700,000 over 32 days. The project featured Romero as lead designer and programmer, Adrian Carmack as artist, and the composer was never officially confirmed. Romero described the game as 'exactly the type of game we think a lot of shooter fans want' and 'a skillful shooter, from movement to weapon and map mastery.'

Reader's Guide

Blackroom was intended as a return to the fast, violent, and masterful first-person shooter gameplay that Romero and Carmack pioneered in their early years at id Software. The game was set in an alternate world where a company called HOXAR created the HoloSims device, which simulates another reality. The player character, Dr. Santiago Sonora, a Chief hNode Engineer, struggles to separate simulation from reality after an encounter with the device. Gameplay was to include rocket jumping, strafe jumping, and circle strafing similar to Quake, along with multiplayer modes such as co-operative play and deathmatch. The Kickstarter campaign was cancelled on April 29, 2016, after raising over $131,000, with Romero pausing it to develop a demo. In 2019, Romero was still reportedly working on the game, but by 2023 his autobiography confirmed that while a demo existed and was shown to publishers, the game was ultimately cancelled.

Did You Know?

• The game's Kickstarter campaign was cancelled after raising over $131,000 of its $700,000 goal.
• The composer for Blackroom was George Lynch, guitarist of the band Dokken.
• John Romero confirmed the game's cancellation in his 2023 autobiography 'Doom Guy: Life in First Person'.
• The game's plot involved a device called the HoloSims, created by the fictional company HOXAR.

The Long Road to Blackroom

John Romero first floated the concept of a new first-person shooter back in 2012, sharing the idea publicly on Twitter. By 2014, he was openly confirming that he was actively developing another FPS, noting with some self-awareness that he had not shipped a shooter since Daikatana in 2000. The project eventually took shape under the banner of Night Work Games, an independent studio co-founded by Romero and fellow former id Software veteran Adrian Carmack. The team's composition was deliberately lean and personal: Romero served as both lead designer and programmer, Carmack handled the art direction, and rock musician George Lynch of Dokken was brought in to compose the soundtrack. In January 2016, just months before the public reveal, Romero was characteristically guarded, telling reporters he preferred not to discuss the project because it represented an original concept he had never seen attempted before. The game was ultimately titled Blackroom, announced on April 25, 2016, with a target release window of the winter quarter of 2018.

A Homage to Classic Shooter Mechanics

Blackroom was conceived as a deliberate throwback to the era of first-person shooters that Romero and Carmack helped define during their tenure at id Software. The design philosophy centered on recapturing the fast, violent, and masterful PC gameplay that characterized that golden period. Rather than relying on modern conveniences, the game emphasized raw mechanical skill: players would execute rocket jumps, strafe jumps, and circle strafes in a control scheme closely modeled on Quake. This emphasis on movement-based mastery extended to the broader design, with Romero describing the experience as a skillful shooter demanding proficiency in movement, weapon handling, and map knowledge. The game was planned to offer both a single-player campaign and a robust multiplayer component, with modes including co-operative play, traditional deathmatch, and additional competitive formats. The overall vision was to trust that the core audience still craved that particular brand of high-speed mechanical challenge.

A Story of Blurred Realities

The narrative of Blackroom was set in an alternate world where a corporation called HOXAR had developed a breakthrough in virtual and alternate reality technology. Their flagship product, the HoloSims, was a device capable of immersing its user in a fully simulated alternate world. However, the system suffered a catastrophic malfunction: users began experiencing their simulations warping and mutating in deeply unsettling ways, the boundary between the constructed environment and the real world dissolving in terrifying fashion. The player assumed the role of Dr. Santiago Sonora, who held the position of Chief hNode Engineer at HOXAR. After a direct encounter with the malfunctioning HoloSims device, Sonora found himself increasingly unable to distinguish between the simulated and the real. Equipped with a HOXAR device called the Boxel and relying on his own ingenuity, Sonora's mission was to confront and ultimately defeat the corrupted system that had begun to consume the line between reality and simulation.

The Kickstarter Gambit and Final Demise

On April 25, 2016, Romero officially unveiled Blackroom and launched a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign with a funding target of $700,000 to be raised over 32 days. The campaign, however, met an abrupt end just four days later on April 29, having collected only over $131,000. Romero explained that the pause was intended to allow the team to build a playable demo, which they hoped to showcase before reopening the crowdfunding effort. For a time, the project lingered in a state of quiet development; as late as November 2019, reports indicated that Romero was still actively working on Blackroom. Yet by September 2020, no new public information had surfaced, and the project effectively fell silent. The final confirmation came in 2023, when Romero's autobiography, Doom Guy: Life in First Person, revealed that while a functional demo had been completed and shown to potential publishers, the game was ultimately cancelled. Blackroom never reached its planned winter 2018 release window and remains one of the most notable unrealized projects from the post-id Software era.