''Quake Champions'' is a first-person

arena shooter An arena shooter is a subgenre of shooter games and multiplayer games that cover both the first-person shooter and third-person shooter genres. These games emphasize fast paced movement in enclosed map designs that foster engagement between play ...

developed by

id Software id Software LLC () is an American video game developer based in Richardson, Texas. It was founded on February 1, 1991, by four members of the computer company Softdisk: game programmer, programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer T ...

and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is the fifth main entry in the '' Quake'' series, following 2005's ''

Quake 4 ''Quake 4'' is a 2005 military science fiction first-person shooter video game developed by Raven Software and published by Activision. It is the fourth title in the ''Quake'' series, after the multiplayer ''Quake III Arena'', and a sequel to ' ...

''. The game was first released in early access on August 22, 2017; since August 10, 2018, the game has been

free-to-play Free-to-play (F2P or FtP) video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content without paying or do not require paying to continue playing. Free-to-play is distinct from traditional commercial software, which ...

. The game's full version was released on August 18, 2022.

Development

''Quake Champions'' was announced at the

Electronic Entertainment Expo 2016 The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2016 (E3 2016) was the 22nd E3, during which several hardware manufacturers and software developers and publishers from the video game industry presented new and upcoming products to the attendees, primarily re ...

. The game features a large quantity of playable characters, with each having access to one or more 'passive abilities', and one 'active ability' that must be triggered by a key-press . The game was promised to be a "fast paced arena based shooter". It will not be released on consoles due to hardware limitations. At QuakeCon 2016, creative-director

Tim Willits Tim Willits is the former studio director, co-owner, and level designer of id Software, the American video game developer company. As of August 2019, Willits is the chief creative officer at Saber Interactive. He became a Director of 3D Realms ...

revealed that ''Quake Champions'' does not run on the

id Tech 6 id Tech 6 is a multiplatform game engine developed by id Software. It is the successor to id Tech 5 and was first used to create the 2016 video game ''Doom''. Internally, the development team also used the codename ''id Tech 666'' to refer to ...

game engine, but instead works on a hybrid engine made up of id tech and Saber tech, which means a number of the features seen in ''Doom'' are not native to ''Quake Champions'', such as

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), e ...

Vulkan API Vulkan is a low- overhead, cross-platform API, open standard for 3D graphics and computing. Vulkan targets high-performance real-time 3D graphics applications, such as video games and interactive media. Vulkan is intended to offer higher perform ...

, SnapMaps and mod support, although mod support is potentially planned after initial release. It was revealed that ''Quake Champions'' was originally considered as an expansion to ''

Quake Live ''Quake Live'' is a first-person arena shooter video game by id Software. It is an updated version of ''Quake III Arena'' that was originally designed as a free-to-play game launched via a web browser plug-in. On September 17, 2014, the game wa ...

'', a revamped version of ''

Quake III Arena ''Quake III Arena'' is a 1999 multiplayer-focused first-person shooter developed by id Software. The third installment of the ''Quake'' series, ''Arena'' differs from previous games by excluding a story-based single-player mode and focusing prima ...

'' released in 2010. The game went into

closed beta A software release life cycle is the sum of the stages of development and maturity for a piece of computer software ranging from its initial development to its eventual release, and including updated versions of the released version to help impro ...

on April 6, 2017 and was released onto Steam's

early access Early access, also known as alpha access, alpha founding, paid alpha, or game preview, is a funding model in the video game industry by which consumers can purchase and play a game in the various pre-release development cycles, such as pre-alph ...

program on August 22. It is stated that the game would feature a

option, allowing players to play as Ranger, with additional characters available for purchase, similar to the model used in ''

Killer Instinct ''Killer Instinct'' is a series of fighting video games originally created by Rare and published by Midway, Nintendo, and Microsoft Studios. The original ''Killer Instinct'' was released for arcades in 1994; the game was then released for ...

''. At

E3 2017 The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2017 (E3 2017) was the 23rd E3, during which hardware manufacturers and software developers and publishers from the video game industry presented new and upcoming products to the attendees, primarily retailers a ...

B.J. Blazkowicz of the '' Wolfenstein'' series was announced as a playable character. At

E3 2018 The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2018 (E3 2018) was the 24th E3, during which hardware manufacturers, software developers, and publishers from the video game industry presented new and upcoming products to the attendees, primarily retailers a ...

, Bethesda announced the availability of a

trial that is downloadable on Steam. Players who sign up during the free trial period will be able to keep playing for free after the game launch. Early access to the game was available for purchase at $30 on Steam.

Andrew Hulshult Andrew Hulshult is an American video game music composer and sound designer. He is best known for his work with 3D Realms as well as his scores for several first-person shooters, such as Dusk (video game), ''Dusk'', ''Quake Champions'', and ''Do ...

announced on his Twitter that he will be composing new music for the game. Hulshult previously composed music for the modification ''

Brutal Doom ''Brutal Doom'' is a game mod for the 1993 first-person shooter ''Doom'' created by the Brazilian developer Sergeant Mark IV (Marcos Abenante). It adds numerous gameplay elements and graphical effects. The mod has been in development since 2010, ...

'' and

Apogee Software 3D Realms Entertainment ApS is a video game publisher based in Aalborg, Denmark. Scott Miller founded the company in his parents' home in Garland, Texas, in 1987 as Apogee Software Productions to release his game '' Kingdom of Kroz''. In the ...

titles like 2013's ''

Rise of the Triad ''Rise of the Triad: Dark War'' is a first-person shooter video game, developed and published by Apogee Software (now 3D Realms) in 1995. The player can choose one of five different characters to play as, each bearing unique attributes such as ...

'' and

3D Realms 3D Realms Entertainment ApS is a video game publisher based in Aalborg, Denmark. Scott Miller (entrepreneur), Scott Miller founded the company in his parents' home in Garland, Texas, in 1987 as Apogee Software Productions to release his game ' ...

' '' Bombshell''. During Quakecon 2018, it was announced that ''Quake Champions'' would be

and open to all players on August 10. At launch, the game made use of

loot box In video games, a loot box (also called a loot crate or prize crate) is a consumable virtual item which can be redeemed to receive a randomised selection of further virtual items, or loot, ranging from simple customization options for a player ...

es containing random cosmetic items. It later transitioned to a

battle pass In the video game industry, a battle pass is a type of monetization approach that provides additional content for a game usually through a tiered system, rewarding the player with in-game items for playing the game and completing specific chal ...

model in December, with players earning "shards" from weekly challenges to unlock new cosmetics.

Reception

The game has been well-received by fans of the ''Quake'' series, but has failed to keep the player's attention for longer than other

games.

Accolades

The game was nominated for "Fan-favorite Shooter Game" at the

Gamers' Choice Awards The Gamers' Choice Awards was an award show that honored the video game industry in 2018. It was held on December 3, 2018 and broadcast on December 9, 2018 on CBS. It was the first gaming and Esports awards show to be televised on a broadcast ne ...

, and for "Best Action Game" at the

Titanium Awards Fun & Serious Game Festival is a video game festival that takes place, in Bilbao, Spain, from late November to the beginning of December since its foundation in 2011. Its main objective is to recognize the cultural importance of video games. To do ...

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Quake Champions 2022 video games Bethesda Softworks games First-person shooters Arena shooters Hero shooters Id Software games Multiplayer online games Saber Interactive games Video games about death games Video games developed in the United States Video games scored by Andrew Hulshult Windows games Windows-only games Quake (series) Video games adapted into comics Video games containing battle passes