From Doom Eternal to Indie: Two id Software Vets Go It Alone

Ever wondered what happens when you walk away from one of the biggest studios in gaming to go it alone? That's exactly the leap Tony Garza and Richard O'Neal took. Garza, the art director on Doom Eternal, and his fellow id Software alum O'Neal traded the AAA machine for the wild world of indie development with their new studio, Turnkey Games.

Garza spent a decade at id Software, and O'Neal logged serious time there too. That's a lot of years inside one of the most legendary shooter studios on the planet. So why leave? The pair sat down to talk about their journey into indie development, and the lessons they picked up along the way.

The big takeaway? It's refreshingly simple. "Ship a good game, learn from it, and build from there." That's the philosophy driving Turnkey Games. No grand ten-year master plan, no chasing trends, no overthinking it. Just make something good, put it out into the world, pay attention to what works, and use that knowledge on the next one.

It sounds obvious, but it's a mindset that's easy to lose after years in AAA development, where projects can stretch for ages and the stakes feel enormous. Going indie strips things back. You're not managing a massive team or answering to a giant publisher. You're just trying to make a game that people actually want to play.

There's real value in that perspective, especially for anyone dreaming about making the jump themselves. A decade at id Software means Garza and O'Neal know what top-tier production looks like. But Turnkey Games is about applying those hard-earned skills on a smaller, more personal scale, where shipping and iterating matter more than polish and perfection.

For fans of Doom Eternal, it's worth keeping an eye on what these two cook up next. The talent behind one of the best shooters of the last generation is now pointed at something entirely their own, and that's genuinely exciting.

What do you think? Would you ever leave a dream AAA job to go indie, or does the stability of a big studio sound too good to give up? And will you be keeping tabs on Turnkey Games' first project? Let us know in the comments.