Quake Champions, the latest game in the classic Quake series and the most recent iteration of the Quake III Arena brand of online arena shooter, has finally gone free-to-play today. id Software director Tim Willits announced the news at QuakeCon 2018 during the keynote address. Quake Champions previously dabbled with going free during E3 this year before fully adopting the free-to-play model today.
The new “Free to Play” option is right at the top on the game’s Steam page. As expected, this does not mean the whole game is free. If you’re not aware, the major difference between Champions and Quake III Arena is the focus on hero characters with unique abilities. The F2P version offers regular matchmaking tools and access to Ranger, the game’s main “Champion” character and the hero of the original Quake. He’s a good all-round character and has a limited teleport as his special ability.
If you’re not concerned about who you play as, you basically can play the whole game forever for free and other Champions become available to try on a rotating basis. It’s possible to unlock other Champions with in-game currency or real money if there’s a particular one you want. There’s a $4.99 “Starter Pack” which includes a three-day trial of all Champions, loot boxes, an experience boost, 300 Shards, and 500 Platinum. If you want all the game has to offer, including all Champions (including future releases) and Private Lobbies, the “Champions Pack” costs $29.99 (although it’s currently on sale for $19.79).
The game’s pretty tough, but fortunately it has bots now so players can practice offline now. Other famous Champions in the game include Wolfenstein‘s BJ Blazkowicz and Doom‘s Doom Slayer. Just last week, on August 2, the game added the Death Knight, an enemy from the original Quake who hasn’t been seen in 22 years. The Knight’s special ability is a sword that shoots out fireballs, just like how he did in the first Quake. A character from Rage or Commander Keen is surely not far behind.
