The 30th anniversary of the Voodoo graphics card arrives in October 2026, marking three decades since the co-processor debuted. Cofounder Ross Smith notes that the hardware, which lacked a VGA and worked alongside 2D cards, sold millions due to Quake.
Following Quake's June 1996 launch, contacted 3dfx to enable 3D hardware acceleration. This led to the development of the MiniGL API and the early 1997 release of GLQuake, which utilized the Voodoo's specialized power to transform PC gaming visuals.
The now-defunct 3dfx eventually faced patent infringement battles with during the late 1990s. After filing for bankruptcy in the early 2000s, 3dfx saw many of its assets acquired by Nvidia, ending its run as a primary pioneer in the GPU market space.