When PC gamers of the 90’s think back there must surely be one name that’s synonymous with their digital leisure antics of the period: John Romero.

Not only did Romero co-found legendary development studio, id Software, and work on seminal titles such as Wolfenstein 3D, DOOM and Quake, but good friend and fellow developer Tom Hall was there too (up until the beginning of DOOM II’s development), serving as id Software’s creative director, no less, and key contributor to the Commander Keen series that brought the team so much success in the first place.

After splitting up following their stints at id Software, rejoining at the ill-fated ION Storm, then joining up again at mobile developer Monkey Stone, then joining up again at Midway Austin, then parting ways again to try their respective hands at massively multiplayer online game development, John Romero and Tom Hall are once more working together in an official capacity at their new company, Loot Drop.

The news arrives as social entertainment company RockYou announces a new development agreement that will fund and publish Loot Drop’s first project. RockYou has 200 million monthly unique visitors and 15 billion monthly global impressions, according to a press release, which is sure to enable “independent developers to reach a broad audience.”

RockYou’s SVP of Games, Jonathan Knight, said of the deal:

“Our partnership with Loot Drop allows RockYou to work with some of the industry’s most creative minds. We’re thrilled to be collaborating with John Romero, a game design visionary, as we aim to inspire innovation in the social gaming space and expand our games portfolio throughout the year.”

Naturally, Romero is just as thrilled at the prospect of such a potentially exciting partnership, saying:

“The social space is where the excitement and the players are at, hundreds of millions of them, and I’m excited to make another game on the platform. RockYou’s support will drive Loot Drop’s first project forward. I believe social games have an incredible future, and we’ve barely explored their potential.”

“I really like the faster cycles where you can respond a lot faster to the users,” Romero added. “We are not interested at all in going back to the normal game industry cycle where it takes years to do a game. This audience is unbelievably massive, and we are very early in its history. I feel like it is 1981 again, and the industry is ready for an explosion of creativity.”

Prior to Loot Drop, Romero founded and worked at Gazillion Entertainment, while Tom Hall, who will act as Loot Drop’s Studio Head and Game Designer, previously worked at MMOG company KingsIsle (Wizard101).

A third business partner, Robert Sirotek, will serve as Loot Drop’s CEO. Sirotek is likewise a veteran of the videogame industry and co-founded Sir-tech Software in 1980, releasing over 150 games during his tenure at the company, including Wizardry and Jagged Alliance.

No details have yet been announced regarding Loot Drop’s first project.