Learn everything there is to know about John Romero, the programmer who brought Doom to PC gaming. His net worth, assets, biography, marriages, and past, as well as his current activities in Ireland.
John Romano is the pioneering video game programmer who created Doom, the world’s first first-person shooter. John is live proof that history can be produced only through enthusiasm and hard effort, as he set records in the programming industry despite having no professional training.
FACTS ABOUT JOHN ROMERO
| FULL NAME | Alfonso John Romero |
| REAL NAME | Alfonso John Romero |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 28 October 1967 |
| AGE | 52 years old |
| NATIONALITY | American |
| OCCUPATION | Programmer / Video Game Designer |
| ASTROLOGICAL SIGN / ZODIAC | Scorpio |
| BIRTHPLACE | Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States |
| EDUCATION | Self-Taught (no formal training) / High School Graduate |
| SEXUAL ORIENTATION | Straight |
| PARENTS | Alfonso Antonio Romero and Ginny Schuneman |
| ETHNICITY | Mexican-American |
| WEIGHT | 75 kilograms |
| HEIGHT | 5 feet 8 inches (173 cm) |
| CURRENT RESIDENCE | Galway, Ireland |
| MARITAL STATUS | Married |
| WIFE | Brenda Romero (married 2012) |
| PREVIOUS SPOUSES | Kelly Mitchell (married 1987-1989)Elizabeth Ann McCall (married 1990-1998)
Raluca Alexandra Plesca (married 2004-2011) |
| CHILDREN | Michael (born 1988), Steven (born 1989), and Lillia Antoinette (born 1998) |
| COMPANY WEBSITE | https://www.romerogames.ie/ |
| FACEBOOK ACCOUNT (Company) | https://www.facebook.com/romerogamesltd/ |
| INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT | https://www.instagram.com/ |
| TWITTER ACCOUNT | https://twitter.com/romero |
| QUORA PROFILE | https://www.quora.com/profile/John-Romero |
| PERSONAL WEBSITE | http://romero.com/ |
| YOUTUBE CHANNEL | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtN2A8bFL_NoxClFyklbMRQ |
JOHN ROMERO: WHO IS HE?
John Romero is an award-winning video game designer, level designer, and programmer from the United States, with over 130 games under his belt. He is a co-founder of Ion Storm and id Software (ceased operations February 2005). The Commander Keen series, Wolfenstein 3D, Doom Series, Quake, and Daikatana are just a few of his major creations.
JOHN ROMERO IS KNOWN FOR WHAT?
Doom, Quake, Wolfenstein 3D, and Dangerous Dave are among John Romero’s most well-known works. John Romero’s game creations, along with those of id Software’s main programmer John D Carmack, helped to popularize the first-person shooter genre in the 1990s. The term “deathmatch” was invented by John Romero to describe this first-person shooter type.
NET WORTH OF JOHN ROMERO IN 2019 AND 2020
| ESTIMATED NET WORTH IN 2019 | $20 Million (estimated) |
| PREVIOUS YEAR’S NET WORTH (2018) | $17.5 Million (estimated) |
| ANNUAL SALARY | Not known |
| INCOME SOURCE | Romero Games (Game Development Studio) and Speaking Engagements |
JOHN ROMERO: HOUSE, CARS, LIFESTYLES AND OTHER ASSETS
What does John Romero do with his cash?
While John Romero isn’t known for his opulent lifestyle, these undated photographs from a personal photo book indicate that he has a like for yellow automobiles.
There are photographs of a yellow Hummer with captions that read, “This is my 1997 Fly-Yellow Turbo Diesel 4-Door Hardtop.”
Despite the fact that Hummer is no longer in business, a used 1997 Hummer H1 Wagon may still sell up to $64,000.
There are other photos of a Ferrari captioned, “This was my 1991 Fly-yellow Ferrari Testarossa.”
And it appears that John Romero knows his way around an automobile. A Ferrari Testarossa would have cost between $45,000 and $75,000 eight years ago. The finer ones are now selling for about $150,000 or more.
“Here’s my former house in Stonebriar, situated near Frisco, TX,” John captioned another shot of a huge home. The photo collection also includes a lot layout for the two-story home. The property is 44.7 acres in size, according to the picture.
A comparable property in the Frisco, Texas area sells for $500,000 and above.
John Romero and his wife have subsequently relocated to Galway, Ireland.
WHERE DOES JOHN ROMERO GET HIS MONEY?
It is unknown how much he earns in his present capacity as co-owner of Romero Games, a Game Development Studio firm that he manages with his wife Brenda in Galway, Ireland.
John Romero is now a speaker at international conferences and events, offering his talents, expertise, and experience. Paid speaking, according to this Harvard Business Review article, can be a successful and fun job, with individuals who are well-known in their field earning between $20,000 and $35,000 each lecture.
WHAT ETHNICITY IS JOHN ROMERO?
John Romero’s ancestors are Mexican, Yaqui, and Cherokee. Someone inquired what John Romero’s ethnicity was in a 2013 Tweet, and John Romero replied, “Mexican-American.”
In a February 2019 Instagram post, John Romero paid honor to his ancestors by sharing a photo of his father Alfonso and grandmother Socorro. He explained why he can only speak a little Spanish in the caption. In order to better fit into American society, his family was not taught Spanish. He laments that this is unfortunate, but that despite this, his culture lives on in him and is dear to him.
PARENTS OF JOHN ROMERO
Alfonso Antonio Romero and Ginny Schuneman, John Romero’s parents, met as youths in Tucson, Arizona. John’s father worked as a maintenance man on an air force installation and was a first-generation Mexican-American. Alfonso Antonio and Ginny came to Colorado after being married in the hopes that their inter-racial marriage would be more recognized.
EARLY YEARS / CHILDHOOD
John Romero said in an interview with PC Games that he grew up in a little hamlet in Northern California with a population of only 6,000 people. It was difficult for John to grow up in the gloomy arcade age of the 1970s since they didn’t have a computer at home. As a result, when he was 11 years old, he went to the local college to learn BASIC.
In an attempt to keep him at home, John’s parents got him an Apple II Plus and he was “done going outside.” He considers the Apple II to be his own personal arcade. He was able to develop 20 games and understand the 6502 Assembly language of all his favorite arcade games after a few years.
INFLUENCES FROM THE BEGINNING
When John Romero was a kid, he was already into video games. He credits Space Invaders (1978) and Pac-Man (1980) for inspiring him to think about video game creation. Nasir Gebelli, Bill Budge, and Shigeru Miyamoto are among the programmers who impacted him growing up.
JOHN ROMERO: HOW DID HE GET INTO PROGRAMMING?
John Romero was asked how he learnt all about programming in a 2016 interview with the Financial Post. He said he walked up to the local college when he was 11 and asked computer science students what they were typing. “I wrote it down and started using it myself. I was interested in programming so I asked them about programming. And for some reason these college students were telling an 11-year old—who shouldn’t even have been there in the computer science building –everything that they knew.”
WHAT COLLEGE DID JOHN ROMERO ATTEND?
John Romero did not attend college and has no formal programming training. In this interview, John offers some advise to anyone interested in pursuing a career in programming: “If you have a portfolio of games – indie games that you can do at home—that you can show , that’s far more impressive to an employer than showing them a degree you got somewhere and having no experience.”
Non-college grads are encouraged to apply for John Romero’s current firm, Romero Games. This can be found in the website’s F.A.Q section:
Q: Do I need to have a college degree to work at Romero Games?
A: No. You need to show demonstrated proof of ability. If you spent all your time coding while others went to college, that’s fine. It’s what John Romero did, too.
JOHN ROMERO’S CAREER BEGINNINGS
John Romero’s career officially began in June 1984, when Scout Search, his first published game, was published in the June edition of inCider Magazine. In 1987, after 8 years of programming, he got his first industrial position at Origin Systems. He worked on the Apple II to Commodore 64 port of 2400 at this period. It was also about this time that John Romero and his buddy Lane Roathe co-founded a firm named ‘Ideas From the Deep,’ which was their first partnership.
DOOM AND JOHN ROMERO (ID SOFTWARE)
John Romero traveled to Shreveport, Louisiana in March 1989 to work for Softdisk’s Special Projects branch. In July of 1990, he established a PC Games section, hiring John D Carmack and bringing Adrian Carmack and Tom Hall together to form their group. They all departed Softdisk in February 1991 to start ID Software.
John Romero traveled to Shreveport, Louisiana in March 1989 to work for Softdisk’s Special Projects branch. In July of 1990, he established a PC Games section, hiring John D Carmack and bringing Adrian Carmack and Tom Hall together to form their group. They all departed Softdisk in February 1991 to start ID Software.
WHO IS THE WIFE OF JOHN ROMERO?
Brenda Romero (maiden name Branda Brathwaite) is an award-winning game designer, Fulbright scholar, entrepreneur, artist, writer, and creative director who is married to John Romero. She began her career in the video game business in 1981. She co-owns Romero Games with John and also gives speeches at international events and conferences.
In October of 2012, John and Brenda Romero married. They presently reside in the Irish city of Galway.
PREVIOUS MARRIAGES OF JOHN ROMERO
John Romero has been married three times before: first to Kelly Mitchell (married 1987-1989), secondly to Elizabeth Ann McCall (married 1990-1998), and finally to Raluca Alexandra Plesca (married 2004-2011)
WHY DID JOHN ROMERO CHOOSE IRELAND AS HIS NEW HOME?
Someone asked a question on Quora in 2015, ”Why did John Romero move to Ireland and what is he doing there?” John Romero himself answered the question saying, “My wife and I love Ireland. The country is absolutely breath-takingly beautiful, and the food is amazing…” John also commended the Irish people, characterizing them as kind, pleasant, and helpful, and claiming that there is no better location to raise four children than Ireland. John also stated that Ireland’s gaming development scene is stronger than ever. The country’s 4,000 castles are an added bonus.
Ireland is the world’s second-largest software exporter, according to IDA Ireland (Foreign Direct Investment Ireland, formerly known as Industrial Development Authority). In this film, you may learn more about John Romero’s life in Galway, Ireland.
WHAT ARE JOHN ROMERO’S CURRENT ACTIVITIES?
John Romero now owns a design consultancy firm called Romero Games with his wife Brenda. John and Brenda Romero are available for speaking engagements both individually and as a pair, and have spoken at some of the world’s most prestigious corporations and conferences. Facebook, Google, Microsoft, TedX, SAP, Dell, Amazon, and many others are among the corporations for which they have spoken.
Romero Games, his game creation firm, is situated in Galway, Ireland, where he and his wife presently reside.
In 2019, John Romero returned to game development for one final game, Sigil. It’s a free game that picks up where the original Doom left off. It’s been almost two decades since he’s had a complete episode.
THE SECRET OF JOHN ROMERO FOR IDENTIFYING SOFTWARE SUCCESS
Despite his accomplishment, John Romero is regarded for being forthright and open with his expertise and facts. In 2016, he was interviewed by UK trade journal MCV/ Develop, in which he openly discussed what Id Software accomplished well.
He cited the fact that they did not produce prototypes as a major reason. “No prototypes. Just make the game. Polish as you go. Don’t depend on polish happening later. Always maintain constantly shippable code.”
He also stressed the need of correcting issues as soon as possible. “If you don’t fix bugs, your new code will be built on a buggy codebase and ensure an unstable foundation.”
Their success, according to John Romero, is due to each team focusing on one project at a time. “Write your code for this game only—not for a future game. You’re going to be writing a new code later because you’ll be smarter.”