FPS documentary will capture the history of first-person shooter games

I was around when Doom debuted as a first-person shooter in 1993. People stayed late at their offices so they could play the game on their work computer networks. While the graphics look primitive today, Doom was a scary experience. I still recall staring into the darkness and then hearing a demon growl before sending a fireball straight at me.

The creators of a new documentary, FPS: First Person Shooter, are reviving those memories. CreatorVC launched a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign to finance the launch of what they say will be a three-hour retrospective documentary capturing the history of FPS games such as Doom, Halo, and Duke Nukem. The campaign has already received $42,000 in pledges, just shy of its $44,327 goal.

They’re billing it as the definitive documentary that brings together the legends who created the genre, highlights the legacy of the most popular and significant FPS titles from the last 48 years, and gives fans the chance to be involved in this iconic celebration.

More than 35 of the industry’s most influential FPS creators have signed on to be a part of the documentary, such as Cliff Bleszinski (designer of Unreal, Unreal Tournament, Gears of War); John Romero (cofounder of id Software and Ion Storm); Ed Fries (cofounder of Xbox and former head of Microsoft Game Studios); Jaime Griesemer (co-creator of Halo and Destiny); Robin Walker (co-creator of Team Fortress, Half-Life 2); Dave Oshry (director of Rise of the Triad); Dave Lebling (Maze War); Randy Pitchford (cofounder of Borderlands creator Gearbox Software); and Scott Miller (cofounder of Apogee Software/3D Realms).

Joining these creatives are some of the most well-known players of these titles such as Amy “Valkyrie”/”Athena” Brady (Frag Dolls and PMS Clan cofounder), along with Dennis “Thresh” Fong (recognized as gaming’s first pro player).

This journey starts from the genre’s humble beginnings in the 1970s with the simple wireframe graphics of Maze War through to the present day. It will cover games such as Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Unreal Tournament, GoldenEye, Half-Life, Halo, and Call of Duty. The focus will be on behind-the-scenes stories and unheard anecdotes in engaging interviews that provide new insights into FPS fans’ favorite games.

“We are excited and humbled to be working with the amazing creators who had the vision to start and evolve this genre,” said Robin Block, the founder and CEO of CreatorVC, the team behind the love letter to FPS games, in a statement. “As with all of our previous documentaries, FPS: First-Person Shooter will be a fan-driven retrospective about the genre’s origins and its modern-day domination. Mobilizing fans and making them co-creators is critical to our creative process — adding their ideas, experiences, and expertise to the process. We are excited to get fan input on our Discord and social media channels, to hear which games, weapons, levels, characters, industry influencers, and moments fans feel were the best in the genre’s history.”

CreatorVC is an independent producer of community-based entertainment: long-form factual content that is funded, inspired, and shaped by a dedicated community of fans. CreatorVC previously made In Search of Darkness, which delves into horror films and characters from the 1980s. That film has a 94% “Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It made a sequel to that, and it recently crowdfunded an ‘80s sci-fi documentary In Search of Tomorrow, which raised $1.3 million from nearly 11,000 backers.