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Extensive FPS Documentary will feature Carmack, Bleszinski, Scott Miller, & more

First Person Shooter: The Definitive FPS Documentary brings together over 40 experts from across the genre's history for an in-depth look at its evolution.

TJ Denzer

July 17, 2021 3:10 PM

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The first-person shooter genre is parallel to some of the greatest advancements in video game history. As technology has advanced, as well as the ideas that go with it, the developers behind the FPS genre strived to evolve their games and our interactivity with them, always pushing the envelope and boundaries of what was thought possible with a game. Now, a comprehensive documentary is underway that fully explores the history and evolution of this genre, and it’s guided by some of the best minds that made first-person shooters what they are today, including John Carmack, John Romero, Cliff Bleszinski, Scott Miller, John Cook, and more.

First Person Shooter: The Definitive FPS Documentary was announced with a KickStarter in late June, but it has gathered a ton of steam since, soaring past its initial goal of $44,000 USD to become funded and reaching well into the $80,000 range. It is planned to be a more than three hour feature that will span the evolution of the FPS from Wolfenstein 3D up to the latest Call of Duty titles and beyond, guided by the leading minds that have worked and innovated in the genre through the decades.

With the KickStarter goal reached, all that's left in the funding stage is to reach the campaign’s deadline on July 26, 2021, though you can still invest to claim various rewards and perks for being part of the campaign.

Perhaps more importantly, that means this documentary will go ahead. It is being crafted by the team at CreatorVC, which is an independent production company that has worked on several acclaimed documentaries, including ‘80s horror film documentary In Search of Darkness.

However, the grand wealth of this documentary will be guided by the experts that helped craft the FPS genre from beginning to contemporary times, some of which can be seen listed below.

• John Carmack (Doom, Quake)
• Brian Upton (Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six)
• John Cook (Team Fortress series, Half-Life series, Left 4 Dead series)
• David Alan Smith (Red Storm Entertainment)
• Warren Spector (Deus Ex)
• John Romero (Doom, Quake)
• Cliff Bleszinski (Unreal Engine, Unreal Tournament)
• Bonnie Ross (Halo)
• American McGee (Doom, Quake)
• 40+ experts of the FPS genre

Even Shacknews’ own Long Reads Editor David Craddock, who has extensively researched and written on various facets of the FPS genre including works on Quake and Doom, is on board on as a producer.

For more on First Person Shooter: The Definitive FPS Documentary, be sure to follow the KickStarter for updates leading up to the July 26 campaign close. Stay tuned here at Shacknews as well for the latest on the project.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.