Doom has joined a Washington Post list of 25 works that shaped American culture. The 1993 id Software shooter represents the 1986 to 1995 period, ahead of The Simpsons, Seinfeld, Do the Right Thing and The Joy Luck Club.
Good to Know
The Washington Post created the list for the 250th anniversary of the United States. Each selection represents one decade, from Thomas Paine and the Star Spangled Banner to Mickey Mouse, Levi jeans and Robert Johnson recordings.
Doom took the slot for 1986 to 1995. The choice focused less on review scores and more on how id Software changed game distribution, online communities, first-person design and player-created content.
Washington Post videogame critic Gene Park wrote:
“In December 1993, Id Software gave away part of its new videogame free over the internet. College networks buckled under the traffic, and bulletin boards lit up, as the game eventually was installed on more computers than Microsoft Windows 95 at the time.”
He continued:
“Doom was foundational in digital entertainment—a 3D world viewed in first person, self-published, with no gatekeepers and no retail store, as it gave rise to user-generated content years before anyone had a name for it. Programmer John Carmack handed the audience the tools to build their own corners of hell.”
Shareware played a central role. Players received the first episode at little or no cost, while id Software sold the full game directly. By May 1994, Doom had sold more than 65,000 registered copies and its free version had reached over one million people. Downloads later reached an estimated 20 million by June 1996.
Doom also supported custom levels through WAD files. Fans could create maps, replace sounds and alter game elements, years before downloadable content and creator platforms became standard parts of gaming.
The original release began on MS-DOS, but Doom soon reached Atari Jaguar, Sega 32X, PlayStation, Super Nintendo, 3DO and Sega Saturn. Later editions arrived on Game Boy Advance, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, iOS and Android.
The Ultimate Doom followed in 1995 and added a fourth episode called Thy Flesh Consumed. Modern releases often package that edition with later expansions and updated controls.
However, cultural acceptance did not come quickly. Doom faced blame after the 1999 Columbine High School shooting, a link Park rejected.
“It was people with guns, not a game, that took lives. A grieving nation feared a new form of entertainment it misunderstood. Hearings were held on games and music, a template that would replay after nearly every mass shooting since.”
Park also connected Doom level design to the background of designer John Romero, who has Yaqui, Cherokee and Mexican heritage.
Quoting Romero, Park continued:
“‘A lot of Doom’s design, especially the level design, was really influenced by just that understanding of the environment, the world, and that comes from my dad, my grandma, everybody’— generations, he says, ‘where people lived on the land’ they believed to be shared.”
Washington Post culture critic Philip Kennicott said the project does not rank the best American works. Instead, it uses cultural creations as historical reference points.
“These are not necessarily our proudest moments, but they are defining acts of culture. It is an imperfect list, and incomplete, but then that is America, imperfect and unfinished.”
The recognition follows another federal culture honor. The U.S. Library of Congress added the Bobby Prince Doom soundtrack to the 2026 National Recording Registry in May. The registry now holds 700 recordings chosen for cultural, historical or aesthetic importance.
id Software released Doom on December 10, 1993, for MS-DOS computers.
Around six million people had played the shareware edition by 2002. Other estimates place the audience between 10 million and 20 million during the first two years.
All versions had sold about 3.5 million copies by the end of 1999. The free shareware edition also reached millions of players.
Key editions include registered Doom, The Ultimate Doom and many later console, mobile and PC releases.
Doom helped popularize first-person shooters, online multiplayer, shareware distribution and player-created levels.