First released in 1993, DOOM became a phenomenon in PC gaming history and is widely recognized as the catalyst for the first-person action genre. Since its inception, the franchise has been one of the industry's best-selling PC series, with DOOM III already the most hotly anticipated PC title currently in development. DOOM III is being developed by id Software, distributed by Activision and is expected to be released early next year, 10 years after the release of the original.

Continuing the successful tradition of the series the new installment has already begun harvesting awards. In its first showing during the 2002 E3 Expo the game was awarded five Game Critics Awards: Best of E3 2002 honors including Best of Show, Best PC Game, Best Action Game, Special Commendation for Sound and Special Commendation for Graphics.

As can be expected, developers and distributors were delighted.

We've set out to blow people away with DOOM III, and the demonstration at E3 was a tremendous success, said Todd Hollenshead, CEO, id Software. People have now seen that in everything from graphics and sound to atmosphere and gameplay, we are creating the most advanced and uniquely frightening game ever.

It is a great honor for DOOM III to be recognized in five categories by the people who most closely follow our industry, said Larry Goldberg, executive vice president, Activision Worldwide Studios. We are thrilled to continue working with id Software on this legendary franchise.