Doom Co-Creator John Romero to Headline Gamescom Asia x Thailand Game Show 2026

John Romero, the co-founder of id Software and co-creator of Doom, Quake, and Wolfenstein 3D, has been confirmed arsenic the header keynote talker for this year's Gamescom Asia x Thailand Game Show, to beryllium held successful Bangkok this October. The manufacture veteran's planned keynote, to beryllium titled "Why We Still Make Games", promises to "reflect connected a beingness of gathering games, overcoming setbacks, and navigating decades of manufacture change." And presumably, unsuccessful attempts astatine making radical his bitch.

Doom co-creator John Romero.

While Romero near the Doom improvement workplace immoderate 3 decades ago, helium precocious took to societal media to explicit his enactment for each id Software unit affected by the layoffs earlier this period that came disconnected the backmost of Xbox's important restructuring process.

“I’m truthful atrocious for everyone astatine id Software affected by these layoffs,” Romero tweeted.

“I cognize what it feels similar to permission id portion id goes on. It’s a unusual and achy happening to measurement distant from a spot that holds truthful overmuch of your work, friendships and history."

Romero's existent studio, Romero Games, has suffered its ain setbacks arsenic portion of Xbox's ongoing cuts, with the studio's unannounced shooter cancelled successful 2025 reportedly owed to Microsoft pulling its funding. So helium should surely person a fewer things to chat astir astatine Gamescom Asia x Thailand Game Show.

Romero is the latest talker confirmed for this year's event. He joins co-founders Nick Herman and Dennis Lenart from AdHoc Studio, the squad down 2025's critically acclaimed deed Dispatch, arsenic good arsenic Zhen Fang, VP and Head of International astatine Roblox, and Yoan Fanise, originative manager and laminitis of indie developer DigixArt. More speakers are expected to beryllium confirmed successful the pb up to the show.

Last year's lawsuit featured keynotes from Ubisoft and Naughty Dog developers, arsenic good arsenic a peculiarly impassioned and memorable code from Dead Space co-creator Glen Schofield who declared that the games manufacture was "broken, beaten, and battered." Schofield officially retired from games improvement little than 12 months later.

This year's Gamescom Asia x Thailand Game Show volition seemingly beryllium its biggest to date, with the nationalist country expanding to 4 halls, bringing the full lawsuit abstraction to 35,000 quadrate metres (in lawsuit you're counting). Major publishers including Nintendo, Bandai Namco, Capcom, and Sega volition each beryllium contiguous connected the amusement floor, and determination volition erstwhile again beryllium a sizeable abstraction for indies to showcase the champion of section improvement endowment from Southeast Asia and beyond.

Gamescom Asia x Thailand Game Show 2026 is acceptable to tally from October 29 to November 1, 2026, astatine the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center successful Bangkok.

Tristan Ogilvie is simply a elder video shaper astatine IGN's Sydney office.