Doom Joins Washington Post’s List of 25 Influential American Works

The Washington Post selected id Software’s 1993 shooter Doom as the defining cultural work for the 1986-1995 decade. The list, created to mark the United States’ 250th anniversary, pairs each decade with a single work that “defines” its era, ranging from Thomas Paine’s *Common Sense* to Mickey Mouse. Doom’s inclusion places it ahead of contenders such as *The Simpsons*, *Seinfeld* and Spike Lee’s *Do the Right Thing*.

The Washington Post selects Doom as one of the 25 'most influential works of American culture'

Released for MS-DOS on December 10, 1993, Doom’s shareware model let the first episode circulate free online. By June 1996 the free version had reached an estimated 20 million downloads, and six million people had played the shareware edition by 2002. The game’s early distribution “bucked under the traffic” on college networks, installing on more computers than Microsoft Windows 95 at the time. Its support for custom WAD files let players design maps and modify sounds, a precursor to modern downloadable content and creator platforms. By the end of 1999 all Doom versions had sold about 3.5 million copies, and the title later appeared on consoles from the Atari Jaguar to the Nintendo Switch.

Doom Joins Washington Post American Culture List

Following the 1999 Columbine High School shooting, Doom was cited in media as a scapegoat. Washington Post critic Gene Park rejected that link, emphasizing that “it was people with guns, not a game, that took lives.” He noted that hearings on video games and music became a template repeated after subsequent mass shootings.

The Washington Post selects Doom as one of the 25 'most influential works of American culture'

Culture critic Philip Kennicott explained that the list is not a “best-of” ranking but a series of historical signposts, acknowledging that the selections are “not necessarily our proudest moments, but… defining acts of culture.” The Post also highlighted a recent federal honor: the Library of Congress added the Bobby Prince Doom soundtrack to the 2026 National Recording Registry, underscoring the game’s lasting cultural footprint.

The Washington Post selects Doom as one of the 25 'most influential works of American culture'

• “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.” — Gene Park, Washington Post videogame critic

Doom Joins Washington Post American Culture List

• “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.” — Gene Park

The Washington Post selects Doom as one of the 25 'most influential works of American culture'

• “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.” — Gene Park

Doom Joins Washington Post American Culture List

• “‘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.” — John Romero (quoted by Gene Park)

Doom Joins Washington Post American Culture List

• “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.” — Philip Kennicott, Washington Post culture critic

Doom Joins Washington Post American Culture List