Doom Composer Bobby Prince Passes Away Weeks After Soundtrack Added To US Library Of Congress

Roughly a year ago, a pivotal individual for one of Bethesda’s largest IPs passed away. In July 2025, Julian ‘Father of Elder Scrolls’ LeFay passed away at the age of 59. While one responsible for the upbringing of a major franchise that is still anticipated for a new entry, another passing took place this week that is also making waves for another Bethesda series.

It was revealed that Robert Caskin ‘Bobby’ Price has passed away at the age of 81. Prince is most recognized for his work on the Doom soundtrack which released in 1993. He has also worked on other sound work for titles like Wolfenstein 3D, Rise of the Triad, and Duke Nukem II. On X, John Romero has spoken out on the passing of Prince which took place on June 16th:

Publisher Apogee Entertainment also spoke out on the surprise passing of Prince, describing that “his work helped define an era of PC gaming.” Prince was still alive for one of his work being inducted into the National Recording Registry last month. It was announced that the Doom soundtrack was officially added to the Library of Congress alongside other musical works like José Feliciano’s Feliz Navidad & Weezer’s The Blue Album. Doom is the third game track to be added.

Key to Doom’s popularity was the adrenaline-fueled soundtrack created by freelance video game music composer Bobby Prince. Prince, a lifelong musician and practicing lawyer, was fascinated by the MIDI technology that rose in prominence in the mid-1980s as a means for instrument control and composition, an interest that led to his earliest work composing video games.

For “Doom,” Prince took inspiration from a pile of CDs loaned by the game’s chief designer, John Romero, including seminal works by Alice in Chains, Pantera and Metallica. Despite the limitations of the 1993-era sound card drivers, Prince composed the perfect riff-shredding accompaniment for the game’s demon-slaying journey to hell and back.

Taking advantage of his knowledge of MIDI, Prince even worked to ensure that the sound effects he created could cut through the music by assigning them to different MIDI frequencies. The “Doom” soundtrack would go on to inspire countless remixes and lay the foundation for future generations of game composers.

“Music and recorded sound are essential, wonderful parts of our daily lives and our national heritage. The National Recording Registry works to preserve our national playlist for generations to come. The Library of Congress is proud to select these audio treasures and will work to preserve them with our partners in the recording industry,” acting librarian Robert R. Newlen shared.

More on the passing of Prince, 3D Realms co-founder George Broussard also wrote about his time working with the composer on X. “Bobby was a prolific creator. Looking back and considering his body of work, he was essentially the Hans Zimmer of early shareware games. And all of that came from him being so passionate about music, and video games which were just emerging, that it started as a hobby and was the polar opposite of being a lawyer.”

Are you shocked with the recent passing of Bobby Prince?