Tim Willits to leave id Software after 24 years at the company

Tim Willits took to social media today to announce his departure from id Software.

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Tim Willits has announced that he is leaving id Software after 24 years at the company. Please take a look at the announcement posted to his Twitter page.

Willits began working at id Software as a level designer and ultimately worked his way up the ranks at the company to become studio director. Tim assured id Software fans that his departure would not affect games currently in development. "All of the games currently in development are in very good hands, my departure will not affect any planned releases. id Software is packed full of amazing talent that will continue to develop (long into the future) some of the best shooters in the world." Willits continued, "After QuakeCon I will announce my future plans, where I am going, and what new exciting things I am doing. Stay tuned." 

We caught up with Tim Willits several times to chat about id Software, Rage 2, Quake Champions, and QuakeCon over the years. He has always been very gracious with giving Shacknews his time. Willits spoke extensively with David Craddock for our Rocket Jump long read.

Tim Willits seen here actively doing it for Shacknews as he and Long Reads Editor David Craddock talk Quake.
Tim Willits seen here actively doing it for Shacknews as he and Long Reads Editor David Craddock talk Quake.

As Tim mentioned in his statement on Twitter, we will probably hear his next move after QuakeCon 2019, but it will be great to catch up with him before he heads off on a new adventure. Thanks for all of the memories from your maps in Quake and Doom to your direction of teams in Rage 2 and Quake Champions development. We will be sure to update our readers on where Tim lands next as news breaks and be sure to keep it locked on Shacknews for everything QuakeCon 2019.

CEO/EIC/EIEIO

Asif Khan is the CEO, EIC, and majority shareholder of Shacknews. He began his career in video game journalism as a freelancer in 2001 for Tendobox.com. Asif is a CPA and was formerly an investment adviser representative. After much success in his own personal investments, he retired from his day job in financial services and is currently focused on new private investments. His favorite PC game of all time is Duke Nukem 3D, and he is an unapologetic fan of most things Nintendo. Asif first frequented the Shack when it was sCary's Shugashack to find all things Quake. When he is not immersed in investments or gaming he is a purveyor of fine electronic music. Asif also has an irrational love of Cleveland sports.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    July 18, 2019 8:26 AM

    Asif Khan posted a new article, Tim Willits to leave id Software after 24 years at the company

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      July 18, 2019 8:31 AM

      right before quakecon, too. weird timing

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      July 18, 2019 8:37 AM

      [deleted]

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      July 18, 2019 8:42 AM

      Who from the Quake 3 period is left?

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        July 18, 2019 8:52 AM

        Marty Stratton was there for q3

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        July 18, 2019 9:06 AM

        From Wolfenstein/Doom, only Kevin Cloud remains.

        From Quake/Quake II, only Cloud remain (once Willits leaves in a week or two).

        From Quake III, Marty Stratton, Robert Duffy, Cloud.

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      July 18, 2019 8:47 AM

      What the

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      July 18, 2019 10:26 AM

      so now id is id in name only?

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        July 18, 2019 10:33 AM

        [deleted]

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          July 18, 2019 10:33 AM

          [deleted]

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            July 18, 2019 12:47 PM

            You can argue that id software lost it's soul when Romero got fired for being too much of a rock star. They waited until Quake 1 had gone gold or something and promptly fired him.

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        July 18, 2019 10:40 AM

        And yet they're making the best stuff they've made since the late 90s.

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          July 18, 2019 11:39 AM

          maybe even better but it still remains that id is no more id than Machine Games is.

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            July 18, 2019 12:28 PM

            Eh, this is the Ship of Theseus thing, and not necessarily valid. It's cool to me that kids who grew up playing Doom are getting to bring us new Doom.

            It still feels like "id", whatever that is.

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              July 18, 2019 2:57 PM

              Yeah, hot take: Carmack runs the show for RAGE, it takes seven years to make and lands with a thud.

              Carmack leaves and three years later they deliver DOOM 2016. And that's with the bare minimum of "original" id employees around.

              I think once companies and projects get above a certain size the concept of the "it has to be these people" auteurs concept fades away.

              Or... id is much better off with Hugo Martin around these days.

              Now if I could just get a hold of him during QuakeCon and convince him to release id Tech 5 as open source...

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            July 18, 2019 1:07 PM

            id is no longer the ragtag band of elite rockstars that it once was, but purveyors of the finest fps gaming in the industry? yep still id.

            • Zek legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
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              July 18, 2019 3:05 PM

              It's really no longer possible in today's world for a group of rockstar devs to have that kind of impact in the AAA space anyway. Even if they were all still at the company, their influence on the final product would be diminished, relative to the importance of actually running a good company and hiring dozens/hundreds of good people.

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                July 18, 2019 4:19 PM

                I agree completely but I also think the dna of id is very much alive and in good hands with marty and hugo manning the ship. We don't hear about the grunts but Im sure many of them are doing their best to make id live up to its reputation.

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        July 18, 2019 10:00 PM

        Honestly... for a while there they were an argument for what would happen if the Beatles DIDN’T break up.

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      July 18, 2019 12:27 PM

      End of a goddamn era.

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      July 18, 2019 12:27 PM

      Tim Willits is the guy that allowed me to play Quake3Test at E3, at their special booth. He saw me wearing the Quake3 hockey jersey (which I still have) and put me to the front of the line.

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      July 18, 2019 12:43 PM

      This is probably due to the failures of QUAKE Champions and Rage 2...

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      July 18, 2019 12:45 PM

      id Software is now dead. QuakeCon should be cancelled.

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        July 18, 2019 1:00 PM

        The Great Quakeholio lives.

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          July 18, 2019 2:38 PM

          It's dead, Jim. Might as well make a Commander Keen sequel for the Nintendo Switch.

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            July 18, 2019 4:07 PM

            so ID Software is the personnel and not the output?

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              July 18, 2019 4:11 PM

              Let me quote somebody's comments on Glassdoor after working there:

              None of the amazing talent that created id's iconic games are left - they've all fled the current management team. There are a few issues id software needs to work on to turn things around: The lack of professionalism: Expect lots of inappropriate jokes, comments and a generally unprofessional work environment. Our HR director quit recently over the many internal issues. The lack of opportunities: The Management has openly stated in team meetings that when they are looking to give raises and promotions, they care more about how they get along with the prospect, rather than skill, experience, or previous work done. The hiring practices: They've turned away good candidates in all departments because the leads have expressed a desire to hire only students or people they've worked with before. The broken technology: The entire tech team at id software has quit and moved to Occulus - they all left this past February all together on the same day to protest the managements treatment of people. The non-stop attrition: When all of the teams merged together to create the "new" Doom team 2 years ago, there was around 140+ developers to make the game. Now, there is only around 50. The non-stop attrition has gotten so bad, that they had to contract outside the company for the multiplayer portion of the game, and we have contractors doing a bulk of our art work. The non-stop reboots and changes of direction: Every 4 months or so, they tell us that the current direction is all wrong for doom, and will re-boot most, if not all, of the game. This means that for over 2 years of work, there is no game to show, beyond 1 or 2 blockout levels and numerous prototypes. The non-stop spin doctoring: Instead of meeting the issues head on and working for positive change, the people at id are awash in spin doctoring by the management.

              https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Employee-Review-id-Software-RVW4012058.htm

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      July 18, 2019 7:04 PM

      * * W A C H O O T A L K I N ‘ B O U T W I L L I T S ? ? ? ‘ D * *

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        July 22, 2019 7:00 PM

        ^^ This is the comment I went here to post

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