Doom (1993 video game)
Because id planned to self-publish the game, as the game neared completion they had to set up the systems to sell the game. Jay Wilbur, who had been brought on as CEO and sole member of the business team, planned the marketing and distribution of "Doom". He felt that the mainstream press was uninterested in the game, and as id would make the most money off of copies they sold directly to customers—up to 85 percent of the planned US$40 price—he decided to leverage the shareware market as much as possible, buying only a single ad in any gaming magazine. Instead, he reached out directly to software retailers, offering them copies of the first "Doom" episode for free, allowing them to charge any price for it, in order to spur customer interest in buying the full game directly from id.
Nonviolent video game
In the aftermath of the Columbine High School massacre, a $5 billion lawsuit was filed in 2001 against a number of video game companies and id Software, the makers of the purportedly violent video game, "Doom" by victims of the tragedy. Also named in the suit were Acclaim Entertainment, Activision, Capcom, Eidos Interactive, GT Interactive Software, Interplay Entertainment, Nintendo, Sony Computer Entertainment, Square Co., Midway Games, Apogee Software, Atari Corporation, Meow Media, and Sega. Violent video games mentioned by name included "Doom", "Quake", "Redneck Rampage", and "Duke Nukem". The suit was dismissed by Judge Babcock in March 2002 in a ruling suggesting that a decision against the game makers would have a chilling effect on free speech. Babcock noted that "it is manifest that there is social utility in expressive and imaginative forms of entertainment, even if they contain violence."