John Romero releases his new Doom episode, Sigil 2, to celebrate the game's 30th anniversary

30 years ago, today, on December 10, 1993, id Software released the shareware version of its first-person shooter game Doom. It"s safe to say that the gaming industry, and maybe the entire world, was never quite the same again, as the game became a massive hit and helped to launch an entire genre of titles.

Today, on Doom"s 30th anniversary, John Romero, the co-creator of the original game while he was at id, released a new nine-level episode for that game, Sigil 2, that he also created. It"s also a sequel to Sigil, anotherDoom episode that he created and released in 2019.

Here"s the description of Sigil 2:

Upon breaching the pentagram of invulnerability in the final moments of SIGIL, Episode Five, you find yourself not on a victorious journey back to save Earth, but caught in Baphomet"s cunning snare, catapulted into a new, grotesque domain of relentless torment, unending demon hordes, and an onslaught of heavy metal mayhem!

All but one of the nine new levels in Sigil 2 include a deathmatch arena for multiplayer. Sigil 2 does have some new art, along with a new MIDI soundtrack by James Paddock. If you own Doom, you can download the small 2MB Sigil 2 Doom episode now for free from Romero.com

In addition to releasing Sigil 2, Romero will participate in an online chat later today on Twitch with John Carmack, the man who created the Doom engine technology and went on to become a game development legend as well. The event begins at 3 pm Eastern time (noon Pacific time).