Tag Archive

Quake Champions Next Update Brings Quake 2’s Strogg and a New Arena

Posted on April 9, 2018 by Rae Michelle Richards

Bethesda and Sabre Interactive has released a brief tease about future content coming to Quake Champions. Future patches will that bring forward a classic Quake enemy – the baddies of Quake II, The Strogg – as a playable champion.  Also introduced in this latest patch is a brand new map called Awoken – this ruinous labyrinth is sure to be home to many bloodbaths when it is finally released.

Here is the official description of the upcoming champion the Strogg and its drone companion, Peeker:

Half metal, half decaying flesh, and 100% ready to rage, the primary enemy of Quake II and Quake 4 is back as Strogg fights to be freed from the Dreamlands and reestablish contact with his ruthless warlord, Makron.

Players will also be able to take control and fight as Strogg’s drone sidekick, Peeker, who can fly around the battlefield, shoot at enemies and deal damage with its explosive self-destruct attack. Enemy kills are turned into a nutritional paste called Stroyent that provides 25HP, but players need to act fast – other Strogg players can steal your Stroyent!

New Weapon: The Plasma Cannon

Quake III’s face melting Plasma Cannon will finally find its way into Quake Champions in a future update. For many Q3A Veterans the lack of a proper Plasma Canon has made the available arsenal feel a bit bare.

Here’s the official description:

A blast from the past, the Plasma Gun from Quake III Arena finds its new home in Quake Champions! This high-powered cannon melts unwitting foes with bursts of pure energy and is sure to shake things up when it joins the Quake Champions arsenal later this month!

Last month’s March Update also brought a number of new modes and enhancements to Quake Champions, which unfortunately I did not have time to write about at the time of release. That patch saw the implementation of the much requested insta-gib mode where players are killed in a single hit as well as a brand new 2 Vs. 2 Ranked Mode.

Here’s the official description from those two features from last month’s patch:

NEW GAMEPLAY – Everyone, meet Instagib – The fast-moving, gib-tastic classic will finally make its way to Quake Champions, introducing a fun, fast and casual game where every shot is a one-hit kill. Players will start each match with the only weapons available – the Rail Gun and the Gauntlet – and there will not be weapon, health, armor, or power-up pickups. Champions will still be able to use active and passive abilities, and cool-down hourglasses will spawn on the map.

NEW RANKS – Introducing 2v2 TDM Ranked Mode – In addition to the head-to-head intensity of Duel mode, players will be able to grab a buddy and face off against teams from around the world in deadly 2v2 showdowns. Finding the right Champion and ability combinations will make the difference in the fight for the top spot on the leaderboard.

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December Quake Champions Patch Detailed: New Champion Incoming

Posted on November 20, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

The next update to id Software’s competitive shooter, Quake Champions is set to arrive sometime before the holidays. In a livestream last week developers from id outlined a lot of the bigger changes coming to the fast-paced arena shooter with the next update. Players can look forward to the reveal of a brand new playable Champion, increases to health and armor for better player uptime and a major adjustment to how the Tribolt weapon works. 

Below is a brief summary of the changes mentioned in the stream based upon community input. Please note that this is a summary only and not official patch notes from id or anything like that. 

December’s patch should include: 

  • Customizable crosshairs with different color options. 
  • 2 Vs 2 Team Deathmatch support. 
  • Small armor packs will respawn faster. 
  • The inclusion of a currently unrevealed champion. 
  • Tribolt’s rounds will no longer explode when hitting the ground. They will instead stick to walls and detonate as if they were proximity mines, giving players area of effect control. 
  • All champions will receive an armor/health increase to allow for longer survivability. 
  • Player selections for starting weapon (shotgun / nailgun / machinegun), as well as their preferred datacenter, are now saved client side. 
  • Anarki and Slash max speed reduced slightly. 
  • Doom Slayer’s berserk ultimate ranged reduced. 
  • Frames per second cap will officially be supported, alleviating issues with game upload speeds being tied to high framerates. 
  • A new, smaller map, similar to Lockbox coming for Duel Mode. 
  • Capture the Flag supporting coming in 2018. 
  • Character mesh/hitbox fixes coming in January or Feb 2018. 

Quake Champions was released this past August from open beta into paid Early Access. Since then the game has struggled a bit, especially with the previous October Update which brought significant performance issues early on that were fixed with a series of hotfixes throughout last month.  

December’s patch will bring a new injection of content with the new duel map, small group TDM support and Frames Per Second tied to upload fix. Hopefully, this will entice some new players as well as those who might have left the game to come back and check it out. 

Quake Champions is expected to enter free to play sometime in 2018, it is currently available to play for free on the Bethesda Launcher for anyone who participated in the Closed or Open beta phases. According to Steam Charts Champions averages about 550 players per hour during any given 24 hour period. 

Watch Developer Stream w/ Tim Willits and Adam Pyle from QuakeChampions on www.twitch.tv

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DOOM’s Nintendo Switch Port Will Have You Believing In The Dark Arts

Posted on November 16, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Over the past week I’ve been playing 2016’s DOOM on the Nintendo Switch and this game… just wow, what black magic did Bethesda use to make a game as visually striking and visceral work on Nintendo’s hybrid tablet? 

Players new to this iteration of the classic FPS franchise will find themselves in the boots of the Doom Slayer, an unnamed marine who loves nothing more than ripping the limbs off of demons and splattering their guts across the floor. DOOM exists for two reasons: 1) to allow players to graphically murder countless demons in as comically over the top fashion as possible and 2) to provide the player with an assortment of deadly futuristic weapons that are each more devastating and implausible as the last. These two core tenants are true whether you’re playing the game’s introductory level or on the final boss. 

Overall I’ve played about five hours of DOOM on Switch and I’ve just returned from my first trip to Hell. As a repeat visitor to the lands of fire and brimstone, I have to say being able to be transported to DOOM’s hellscapes where ever I please – whether that’s on the bus or on the couch – proves just how viable the Switch is for First Person Shooters, a genre that up until now has gone unrepresented on Nintendo’s hot new platform. 

Yes, graphically DOOM’s portable iteration is a visual downgrade from its PC based sibling (which I adored and reviewed last year) but when seeing it in motion none of that really matters. Halving of the frame rate from 60 fps to a mostly locked 30 and lowering the resolution of some environment textures to accommodate the Nintendo Switch’s 4GB of RAM does little to hamper the visual quality of this port of DOOM. For the most part, the framerate remains rock solid during heavy action scenes, effects like water running down windows and depth of field are faithfully recreated. Somehow, Panic Button got the full 12+ hour campaign on to Nintendo’s handheld and I’m glad for it. If you haven’t played through DOOM yet and own a Switch I’d highly recommend picking it up – it plays great either docked or in handheld mode.

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DOOM Rips & Tears Its Way On To Nintendo Switch Today

Posted on November 10, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Have you wanted to take id Software’s 2016 FPS masterpiece DOOM on the road with you? Now you can, complete with the game’s competitive multiplayer mode intact. Today’s release is part of Bethesda’s support of Nintendo’s unique hybrid console. Which includes not only today’s release of DOOM but also the upcoming release of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim on November 17th and Wolfenstien II sometime in early 2018.

DOOM was one of last year’s most noticeable releases for several reasons. First and foremost it helped revive the troubled DOOM franchise, which had languished in development hell over the past decade and a half. It was also filled to the brim with all of the violence, classic weaponry, and science fiction trappings players have come to expect from the series with the added addition of modern FPS mechanics, rich lore and a campaign that didn’t shy away from being over 12 hours in length.

Here is part of what I had to say about the PC version when I reviewed it back in July 2016:

“[The weaponry] in this game satisfies like no other shooter this year. A lot of the DOOM classics return – the pistol, the shotgun, the super shotgun, the pulse rifle and the BFG 9000 to just name a few but ID Software has once again outdone themselves by adding a bevy of secondary modes and modifications for each weapon. While playing challenges will passively be completed throughout the campaign awarding “weapon upgrade” points that can be spent on your arsenal. “

One of the marquee features from the console & PC additions did not make the transition to Nintendo Switch, however. The innovative SnapMap mode, which allows players to create their own custom Multiplayer arenas & single player missions is absent from the Switch port. However, Bethesda did include all of the previously released DLC multiplayer maps and the Arcade Mode which allows the DoomSlayer to return to the scenes of his previous rampages and earn new high scores.

Executive Producer at id Software Marty Stratton had this to say about today’s release of DOOM:

“We’re excited to welcome Nintendo fans back to the world of DOOM … This game is all about powerful guns, crazy demons, and fast, relentless gameplay, which we think Switch players will really enjoy.”

Rip, tear, rend and repeat anywhere with the only portable rendition of DOOM!

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Small Hotfix Patch Released For Quake Champions Early Access

Posted on October 17, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Yesterday Sabre Interactive & id Software released a small hotfix for the Early Access version of Quake Champions. These fixes come just two weeks since the latest game update which brought with it new content & champion adjustments but also had players reporting increased lag during matches / other performance issues and problems with the game’s’ social functions.

In addition to performance fixes related to the loading & unloading of characters, this hotfix also addresses problems that may occur when a player has a large number of friends on their contact list. Also added to the game is a brand new vanity item for Ranger, “The Keepers Head”, which ties into the upcoming The Evil Within 2.

Here are the full patch notes:

  • Fixed crash some players were experiencing on loading/unloading from game
  • Fixed crash some players were experiencing in customization screen when buying item with both platinum and shards at the same time
  • Fixed crash some players were experiencing on purchasing vanity items in customization
  • Fixed issue where players were being kicked from match while loading into Burial Chamber with the exception of the Spectator
  • Fixed in-game Contacts list so it properly shows player’s online/offline status and no longer causes performance issues with larger Contacts lists
  • Fixed issue when Spectating a player that died did not show the death animation and instead showed the player select screen
  • Fixed issue where Sorlag’s acid spit ability was doing double damage at certain distances
  • Improved double landing sounds for all Champions
  • ‘The Keeper’s Head’ vanity item added for Ranger. Instructions on how to obtain it can be found here: http://steamcommunity.com/game

[Source]

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Quake Champions Developers Discuss Network Improvements & Future Content

Posted on September 14, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Every week developers from id Software take to Twitch.TV to discuss upcoming content, balance passes and other changes coming to Quake Champions. They also dedicate a good amount of time to answering questions from the community – whether these questions have been gathered from the Bethesda forums, official GC discord or social media. 

Last week’s stream, held on September 8th, featured a number of questions surrounding the possibility of new content – specifically themed seasonal events akin to those done for Overwatch and purchasable shaders. Other questions of interest included what the devs are working on to combat “rubber banding” (other player avatars moving erratically or not playing the correct animations) and Rockets which seem to still be registering 0 DMG randomly. 

 

In regards to Shaders it doesn’t sound like the devs will be making them purchasable with Shards anytime soon. Looks like they will be staying as challenge rewards and lootbox drops: 

  1. Willcolour-shadersbe purchaseable with favour?
    No, probably not. The reason is that we think that the lootbox makes a good case for us. We talked about it in a previous written AMA in the form of “premium shaders” (purchasable premium shaders), but the “standard shaders” we have now is a good way to ensure there are things to earn. If you could buy them individually, there’d just be a lot of content you wouldn’t want anyway. 

New announcers may be added in the future in the form of “Announcer Packs” after Early Access has concluded:

8. New Announcers
We’d like to introduce Announcer Packs, but Early Access is not the time for it. From our experience, it’s very easy to find you need to add new announcer lines for new modes, for example, and if we record them now, we have to go back and re-record those sets, which is costly and difficulty.
Once more things are settled, we’ll get to work on them, however. 

New music is on the roadmap for future updates – with one developer even floating the idea of unlockable “music packs”. To be fair it sounds like a lot of this stuff is preliminary: 

  1. More ambient tracks, more music.
    Yes, a great idea. We have it planned, and definitely, a feature coming online soon. Music drops in packs, or something?

Network related issues with Quake Champions have been widely reported among the community. At one point during the Closed Beta Test it wasn’t uncommon to see your foes “stutter” up stairs and other elevated objects with no animations. Since then the devs at id & Sabre have worked to move QC from a client side damage model to a server simulation model. 

Here is a bit about that change and how internal testing works for QC: 

Road ahead:
When we design QC and architected the network code, we designed and programmed it for every system we possibly could, but for a game as complex as QC we have servers across the world, different ISPs, and millions of PC configurations, so we do run into issues we had no idea we would run into. So, we try to identify and crush those. This is why we started in Beta and moved into Early Access – but we’re still working on all these aspects. 

“If you, at any point, feel you are rubber-banding, your ping fluctuates, etc., then we are actively trying to identify those issues and their solutions, trying to fix it — we’re actively working on it; we know we need to fix the net-code! 

Some improvements will be small, some will be large, but there isn’t one big fix-all. 
We have to find the issue, solve it, and test and hope it works in the real world. 

We’re for example about to do an internal tests in regards to compression methodolgy, and we hope that it will give a huge boost in performance, but it’s a slow process. 

A lot of the comments online are about net-code, which tend to become a big bucket. But there are these isolated events and issues that get lumped together – we’re trying to break them down and test them, so we have some topics we want to cover: 

Previously the game worked – in regards to hit-detection – by being able to shoot the actual model, while the server would calculate all those animations you saw. The server was trying to synchronize the exact shape on both ends, but it is too CPU intensive, and a bit less forgiving, as just a minute discrepancy is enough to desync the client and server. So we’re moving towards static hit-meshes. In essence, giving the models a static mesh that could be hit – imagine putting a sheet over the character, it encompasses everything they “take up in space”, but without gaps (e.g. armpits, etc.).

As time goes by, we’ll include more animation states (more sheets).

Special thanks to Santiak of the Quake Champions community for providing the above-paraphrased quotes from the official live stream. QC entered Early Access at the end of August and it sounds like the devs have a lot more planned in terms of content but also network and hit box registration in the coming patches. 

I’ll continue to monitor developments with Quake Champions and report any major developments in upcoming blog posts. 

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An Extended Look At The Cancelled Doom 4

Posted on August 2, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Last year’s Doom reboot was both a critical and commercial success that build upon the gruesome nature of the franchise’s past while introducing new mechanics like weapons with secondary modes and dismemberment. Before the “back to basics” reboot of “Doom” there was a numbered sequel in development at id that would see multiple iterations and reboots in the midst of a buyout by Zenimax (owners of Bethesda).

Detailed in an excellent piece by Kotaku’s Jason Schreir in 2013: The project then known as “Doom 4” entered development sometime in 2007 and continued until ZeniMax acquired id Software in 2011. At one point in development, Doom 4 was internally jokingly referred to as “Call of Doom” – featuring more realistic weapons and scripted hallway sections akin to Activision’s Call of Duty titles.

Quoting a source in Jason’s article:

“There were jokes like, ‘Oh, it’s Call of Doom.’ They referenced it because of the amount it was scripted—there were a lot of scripted set pieces. There was kind of the recognition that in order to be a big shooter these days, you have to have some amount of the big, bombastic movie experience that people get pulled through.”

We haven’t seen much of the 2007 – 2011 “Hell on Earth” version of Doom 4, showing what would happen around the world if the Demonic forces made it through the dimensional vortex onto the soil of a futuristic earth, rather than the red sands of the Moon Base.  A new video posted by YouTuber Alternative Gaming Channel shows us a blurry demo reel of weapon animations, finishing moves and crowds of (presumably) rebellion NPCS taken from this cancelled version of the storied shooter.

What do you think? Despite the five years of development hell and the clashing tones of a set piece driven gameplay style and shotgun fueled mayhem – would you have played this version of Doom? It didn’t make it past various prototype builds from the sounds of things but I’m hopeful that if Doom (2016) gets a sequel we at least revisit the idea of humanity’s response to the demonic horde. Following the older 90s Doom cannon that is where things should go, and being on Mars for the second time wouldn’t be all that different from the first game.

Update:  

After publishing this article I was reminded of the NoClip documentary that was released just after Doom (2016)’s release last year. In the documentary, the team speaks with developers who have been with id since the Quake III and Doom III days.  They go through what the 2007 Doom 4 project was – confirming it made its way development to the point of being one of three fully formed teams at id. Eventually, the ax came down when management and Zenimax were dissatisfied with the direction of Doom 4. This decision wouldn’t just cost them Doom 4 but also an in-production sequel to 2011’s RAGE as the three teams were merged together into a single whole in order to complete the DOOM that we eventually got.

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Quake Champions Will Be Live On Steam ‘Soon’

Posted on July 26, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Sabre Interactive and id Software’s reimagining of the Quake franchise, Quake Champions will be pushed to Steam ‘soon’ according to a community post made by Community Manager Iker_A. Quake Champions has been in an all but in name only Open Beta since the announcement of beta keys on the games’ official website during E3.

In a thread titled “ The thing that will kill this game” Iker_A gives the community an update on why matchmaking wait times are so long – low server populations. In addition, it has been revealed that major patches are coming down the pike and that a second advertisement blitz should accompany Quake Champions’ emergence onto Steam.

“Hello,

One of the main reasons of matchmaking problems now is the limited player base. The game is in Beta and the devs are making progress to improve the game as much as possible before going really big, that’s one of the main reasons of this testing period. The game will be pushed to Steam soon and we have big plans to promote it, so this issue will be improved drastically in the future. Thanks for your patience!”

It has been a while since I wrote about Quake Champions – for a rundown on the basics of the game make sure to check out my preview from this past April during the Closed Beta. Sadly since Champions became publically available a number of issues have persisted with the game including upload times being tied to frame rate, persistent lag and the god-like ability for any player to take rockets to the face like a champ; because rockets currently do zero damage.

Here’s hoping things can be cleaned up before thousands of people descend upon Bethesda’s servers due to the soon to come Steam release.

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Massive Quake Champions Patch Adds B.J Blazkowicz From Wolfenstien

Posted on June 14, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Id Software and Sabre Interactive rolled out a massive patch for Quake Champions that should make returning testers and new players very happy. The E3 patch adds a brand new champion – the nazi slaying B.J Blazkowicz from the Wolfenstein series. Alongside B.J’s debut in QC this patch also adds 3 new maps for various modes, the much requested “custom games” option for parties of players and so so much more content than can fit into a single paragraph.

B.J’s kit includes the ability to dual wield any weapon in the game by using his ultimate ability. While the ultimate ability timer counts down BJ will spawn a copy of whatever weapon he has active. This duplicating effect carries over to any weapons he might pick up while the ultimate is active or have in his inventory. Want to run around with two railguns, killing everyone in sight? With B.J you can!

Here is a breakdown of B.J’s abilities as they appeared in the patch notes:

NEW Champion: 

B.J. Blazkowicz added to the Champion roster! 

  •    Dual Wield (Active) 

BJ calls for back-up and answers his own call. Double [censored] weapons, BJ takes turns firing them in rapid succession to lay down some heavy fire, but he will burn through some serious ammo to do so. 

  •    Regeneration (Passive) 

BJ can regenerate any damaged health inside one 25 HP block, if he doesn’t receive damage for 3 seconds. 

  •    Stats: 
  •    100 / 100 HP 
  •    25 / 50 AP 
  •    310 -> 560 ups 
  •    Customizations includes 3 outfits and 1 vanity item. 

If you’ve got a whole party of friends who want to play a specific mode or map with a different time limit, frag limit or default team size then perhaps the Custom Game mode is for you. Right now the custom game options are quite limited and there is no server browser or matchmaking for custom games. This isn’t exactly a replacement for dedicated servers, for those that care about that sort of thing. 

The following options are available for custom games:

Custom Game:
–          Party with friends to play private matches on the arena and game mode of your choice!
–          Party Leaders can pre-configure teams in the Match Lobby by dragging players between pillars.
–          Start Match button will be disabled if the amount of players present is lower than required
–          Start Match button will be disabled in Duel mode if players don’t have 3 Champions available

Also added in the E3 patch is the ability for visitors to a game to spectate. Friends who join a custom game can either be assigned to either Red or Blue team or in the “Spectator” role. Those in the spectator role can freely switch their camera either from room to room or between players regardless of which team those players are on.

The patch notes describe the spectator mode thusly:

NEW Spectator Mode: 

  •    Spectator mode added within Custom Game!

o    Invite friends to your party and drag them to the Match Lobby Spectator Box to allow them to spectate the match. 

o   Spectators can toggle camera modes between players, rooms, and free-float by pressing [L. SHIFT]. 

o   Players can cycle through players or rooms with [LEFTARROW] and [RIGHTARROW] or by pressing [1]-[0] number keys for specific players or rooms. 

o   Spectators can press [X] to toggle x-ray outlines to see players locations through walls to help follow the action.

So much more content makes up the large E3 patch than I can cover in one news article – including the three new maps, small bug fixes, a new tutorial system and some menu changes. If you’ve watched the B.J reveal trailer embedded above make sure to head on over to the Quake Champions forums to read the patch notes in their entirety.  

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Ranger Outlined In New Quake Champions Video

Posted on May 3, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Bethesda and id Software bring fans of the quake series (as well as newcomers) another look at one of the Champions featured in the upcoming Quake Champions, Ranger. This particular champion showcase should be interest of players who want to try out Quake Champion’s free-to-play option as Ranger will always be available to players regardless if they’ve spent real money on QC or not.

Inspired by the original Quake’s protagonist, Ranger’s special ability is the Dire Orb which he can launch at enemies to deal damage or use to warp to other points on the map provided that his orb doesn’t collide with another object or champion. Like all the other Champions in the game Ranger will start with a basic machinegun but will be able to pick up deadlier weapons, like the rocket launcher or railgun, if he can make it to them before his opponents.

Ranger is certain to be a character that free-to-play players will become acquainted with during their time with the game. Additional champions will be able to be rented with ‘favor’ – a special in-game currency earned by completing matches or by purchasing them with real world money.

Quake Champions currently does not have a release date but it is in  closed beta testing.

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Quake Champions Newest Hero, Anarki, Is Totally 90s

Posted on March 31, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

The latest champion revealed for Bethesda / id Software’s Free-to-play FPS Quake Champions is Anarki – a hover board skating, transhumanism punk who appears to embrace the 90s surfer attitude alongside old school FPS action.

Anarki’s active ability is health injection which allows him to gain a temporary health boost, which would be great to use right after taking a rocket to the fact. His passive, Hoverboard Air Control appears to allow him to traverse small distances on his hover board at an increased speed. Other tactics that might be useful when playing Anarki include rocket jumps, which are featured prominently in this brief one minute introduction trailer.

Hoverboards, surfer slang and rocket jumps – it doesn’t quite get much more 90s FPS – unless you’re offered a Jolt Cola, of course.

Quake Champions will be entering a “rather lengthy” closed beta period soon before being released presumably later this summer for free. Players can sign up for the beta at the game’s official website.

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Six Minutes of Quake Champions Footage Reveal New Hero Details

Posted on March 12, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Quake Champions was playable this weekend at the Penny Arcade Expo in Boston and fans had the chance to try out the game for themselves. Included in the demonstration version of the game were playable heroes who have been confirmed but not fully revealed on the game’s official website.

One such hero – Clutch, described as the “Awakened Automaton” is briefly shown on the character select screen of Youtuber CamerBOwen’s seven minute off screen video taken at Bethesda’s booth. This brief glimpse of Cluth’s abilities give us a better sense of some of their statistics but some vital information still remains obscured.

What we’ve learned about Clutch from this footage:

  • Their base health statistic is 150.
  • Their base armor value is 75.
  • They will move at 280 speed.
  • Players can select between a machinegun, rocket launcher or nailgun as their primary weapon.
  • Clutch will likely have a large hitbox given its size.

We still don’t know what Clutch’s heroic ability is as the text is either too blurry in the off-screen video or it was purposely greyed out in the PAX East build to prevent too much new information from leaking out before the planned information rollout.

Here is a blurry screengrab of Clutch on the Hero select screen. From this screengrab we can also tell that there will be nine total heroes in Quake Champions at this point in development. This is noteworthy as the official website for Quake Champions only lists eight confirmed heroes. Each hero is set to get their own debut trailer, similar to the one that dropped for Nyx last week. Here are the trailer dates as currently listed on the site:

  • Nyx – Out now
  • ScaleBearer – 03.15
  • Anarki – 3.29
  • Cluth 4.12
  • Galena 4.19
  • Ranger 5.3
  • Visor 5.10
  • Solag 5.24

This points to a possibly open beta date sometime in early Junem, as Bethesda / id Software are already accepting sign-ups for the closed beta that is expected to launch in the next couple of weeks. When Quake Champions launches later this year it will be free to play with only Ranger selectable and the other heroes rentable with in-game currency or via one-time purchase unlock.

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Quake Champions Confirmed To Be Free To Play, Two New Trailers Released

Posted on March 11, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

More Quake Champions news has come out of PAX East in Boston with the reveal that the game will be free to play. Also unveiled since I last wrote about the game a couple of days ago were two new trailers – one covering the arena Blood Covenant and the other covering the champion Nyx.

Tim Willits, the creative director behind id Software’s Quake Champions revealed to Polygon earlier today that Quake Champions will provide all players access to one champion, Ranger, with the remainder of the champions behind a real world currency paywall.  Free to Play users can earn an in-game currency easily to rent other champions for a limited time. The price of the unlock pack or how much in-game currency is required to rent a champion have yet to be revealed. All players will have access to the same modes, maps and ranked ladders regardless of how many champions they have unlocked in-game.


Here is a quote from the original Polygon article describing id Software’s decision to go free-to-play with Quake Champions:

“But then we also understand that we want to get as many people into the game as possible, especially outside of North America and Western Europe, where we have a massive fan base. So we want to have the flexibility to have a free-to-play option for those people.”

Also unveiled was the debut trailer for the female hero Nyx, who also appeared in the E3 trailer last year. Her passive ability allows players to run along walls, giving them a height advantage over their ground-based opponents. Her active ability grants her a brief window invisibility allowing her sneak up to her opponents to land the killing blow.

As I reported several days ago, Quake Champions is currently accepting sign-ups on their official website for the upcoming closed beta. The games open beta and eventual release will, of course be open to everyone – regardless of monetary commitment.

 

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Quake Champions Beta Sign-Ups Open With Release of New Trailer

Posted on March 7, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Id Software & Bethesda Softworks have released a brand new trailer for their upcoming team based competitive First Person Shooter Quake Champions alongside news that beta sign-ups are now open on the games’ official website. According to the site the closed beta for Quake Champions could begin as soon as a couple of weeks from now.

Quake Champions was initially revealed last year at E3 and since then we’ve seen small glimpses of gameplay and a tournament at last year’s Quake Con. It is still not known if Quake Champions will be a full priced title or if it will be free to play. Quake.com outlines two different arenas, eight unique heroes and six deadly weapons that should be featured in the beta release.

Check out the trailer below, let’s hope that more information about the game will be released as the beta draws near, but if this closed beta is anything like the Doom beta – it will be covered under a non disclosure agreement.

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Zenimax Buys Doom Co-Developer Escalation Studios

Posted on February 2, 2017 by Rae Michelle Richards

Zenimax, the parent company of publisher Bethesda Softworks, announced recently that they have acquired Dallas-based developers Escalation Studios. If you haven’t heard of the folks at Escalation Studios before I wouldn’t blame you but they have worked on a number of smaller titles as well as collaborated with other studios on AAA titles. Most recently they worked alongside id software on the 2016 DOOM Reboot and prior to that their website states that they’ve collaborated on the Call of Duty franchise as well as past entries in the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series.

In the press release announcing the acquisition, it was noted that Escalation Studios is working on a number of projects for Bethesda including console titles, VR titles and other games. According to their website Escalation is currently hiring Software Engineers, UI Designers, 2D artists and web engineers possibly for these unannounced games.

In a statement Co-Director of Escalation Studios, Marc Tardif said:

“Becoming a part of this amazing family of developers is an honor for everyone at our studio.” 

Last year’s DOOM reboot shipped in May and was met with rave reviews – including our own – for its robust single-player and lore offerings.

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