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Not trying to fanboy anyone here, but while id was still in the "license the engine out for fun and profit" game (especially during the quake 2 - 3 era) they dominated. It wasn't until id tech 4 and Unreal Tournament 2004 (and the Unreal 3 engine) that they stopped being really competitive in the engine space, and Epic is as big as it is today not just because of Gears of War (was UT3 popular?) but because they own the high end licensed 3d engine space.

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My impression after reading "Masters of Doom" was that Carmack never really wanted to be in the licensing business. The main driver behind id's early licensing pursuits was Romero, and although Carmack went along, he did so without enthusiasm. After Romero got fired, there was no one at id pushing for the studio to do much besides making games. Epic Games, on the other hand, took engine licensing very seriously from the beginning. There is a feeling of "continuity" between iterations of their technology, and this is very important to toolkit licensees, and something that you don't get from id. I've always felt that Tim Sweeney has a lot more business acumen than most people would expect from a programmer.

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