Doom co-creator John Romero has paid tribute to Ozzy Osbourne, citing the metal genre's influence on the game.
If there was ever a game that felt like a distillation of heavy metal (aside from Brutal Legend, which is very literally that) it's Doom. The cover art by Don Ivan Punchatz is one of the best metal album covers of all time – if you ignore the fact it's not for an album – and the game itself feels like an album come to life.
So it won't shock you to hear that Doom was heavily inspired by the genre, which is widely considered to have been created by Black Sabbath.
So much of DOOM’s soul is down to heavy metal, and without Ozzy and Sabbath, I am not sure it would have been the same. Certainly, I would not have been the same. Metal gave a voice to a whole generation of kids that didn’t fit in for one reason or another. It still does. RIP… pic.twitter.com/vjCXWJoVibJuly 22, 2025
Following Black Sabbath singer Ozzy Osbourne's passing earlier this week, id Software co-founder John Romero took to Twitter to pay tribute to the pioneer of metal.
"So much of DOOM’s soul is down to heavy metal, and without Ozzy and Sabbath, I am not sure it would have been the same," Romero said, adding, "Certainly, I would not have been the same. Metal gave a voice to a whole generation of kids that didn’t fit in for one reason or another. It still does."
While never appearing in a Romero game, Ozzy Osbourne has had numerous appearances in various games, with his music featured in titles such as Madden, Rock Band, WWE 2K, and GTA over the years.
Plus, he actually appeared in Brutal Legend (which was recently made free in honor of Osbourne), in which he played the fitting role of the "Guardian of Metal," and Guitar Hero: World Tour as a playable character along with his songs Crazy Train and Mr. Crowley.
