Masters of Doom cover art

Masters of Doom

How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture

Preview

Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Masters of Doom

By: David Kushner
Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
Try Premium Plus free

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $27.99

Buy Now for $27.99

Confirm Purchase
Pay using voucher balance (if applicable) then card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions Of Use and Privacy Notice and authorise Audible to charge your designated credit card or another available credit card on file.
Cancel

About this listen

Masters of Doom is the amazing true story of the Lennon and McCartney of video games: John Carmack and John Romero. Together, they ruled big business. They transformed popular culture. And they provoked a national controversy. More than anything, they lived a unique and rollicking American Dream, escaping the broken homes of their youth to produce the most notoriously successful game franchises in history - Doom and Quake - until the games they made tore them apart. This is a story of friendship and betrayal, commerce and artistry - a powerful and compassionate account of what it's like to be young, driven, and wildly creative.

©2003 David Kushner (P)2012 Audiobooks.com
Business Business & Careers Video Game

Critic Reviews

"Compelling . . . Masters of Doom succeeds on several levels. It's just great storytelling, with perfect pacing, drama and characterization. It's also an excellent business book, a cautionary tale with the kind of insider detail that other writers working in the genre should envy." ( Houston Chronicle)
“Kushner’s mesmerizing tale of the Two Johns moves at a rapid clip . . . describing the twists and turns of fate that led them to team up in creating the most powerful video games of their generation. . . . An exciting combination of biography and technology.” ( USA Today)
“Meticulously researched . . . as a ticktock of the creative process and as insight into a powerful medium too often dismissed as kids’ stuff, Masters of Doom blasts its way to a high score.” ( Entertainment Weekly)

What listeners say about Masters of Doom

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    208
  • 4 Stars
    49
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    203
  • 4 Stars
    21
  • 3 Stars
    6
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    190
  • 4 Stars
    37
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

great games development and history unearthed

Wil Wheaton narrates amazingly as always.
Great story of gaming history.
very entertaining listening.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Childhood revisited

Loved it.
Great story.
Love the narrator.
Would recommend to anyone that grew up with Wolfenstein, Doom and Quake.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

must hear so much interesting

I've listened to this book as much as I could.
this was so interesting to learn about the good times, bad times and reasons for why things happen.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

excellwnt

Great book. Worth the read if you like v games, good narration, need more words.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Absolutely loved it.

Blasted through this as the book had incredible pacing and introduced interesting new elements or stories as it progressed.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic read highly recommended!

As a software developer was great to get a timeline of my childhood gaming experience. Fantastic story, excellently read and interesting all the way through. Recommended for anyone that wants to get the story behind the evolution of PC gaming.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

ID Software Bio

Perfect performance. I like Wil Wheaton’s style of narrating. Listened to Doom Guy first. This fills in some blanks and then some. Although 20+ years old, it is still very much worth it if you are into ID stuff. The 2 Johns are selfmade men with human flaws. We (gamers) owe them much.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story with excellent narration

Loved all of it! Hope others experience it. Interesting material, well written, and above all as enjoyable as the games the story revolved around.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

a must read for any gamer

love this book. An epic story through the evolution of gaming and the first person shooter.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A great listen

A great story about 2 very talented men withij the video games industry.
How they shaped it and yet they seemed destined to be driven apart eventually.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.