All the news from QuakeCon 2026
Di: Parker Wilhelm
It’s an extra-special year as fans flock to Texas for QuakeCon 2026 for its 30th Anniversary, celebrating 30 years of fun, frags and copious energy consumption. Read on for the exciting news, releases and collaborations to come out of North America’s largest LAN party this year: this year:
A BRAND-NEW QUAKE EPISODE IS AVAILABLE NOW
Originally released in 1996, the genre-pushing FPS classic Quake is having its 30th Anniversary! To mark the occasion, a new episode for the game is now available from the award-winning team at MachineGames, in collaboration with id Software!
Dawn of the Machine is available now as a free update for Quake, featuring an all-new 19-map campaign with hidden secrets to uncover, time-bending progression mechanics, a new soundtrack to accompany your journey and even a new Deathmatch map to duke it out with friends, foes and bots alike.
Dawn of the Machine is currently available on XBOX Series X/S, XBOX One, Microsoft PC Store, Game Pass, PC Game Pass, Steam, Nintendo Switch 2 (via backwards compatibility), Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 versions of Quake.
Check out the full Dawn of the Machine Release Notes for Quake
CATCH LIVESTREAMS ALL WEEKEND LONG
That’s right, tune into multiple live events throughout QuakeCon weekend, featuring special guests such as id Software Co-Director/Game Director Hugo Martin, id Software Co-Studio Director/Executive Producer Marty Stratton, and even id Software co-founder John Romero!
See the official QuakeCon events schedule for details
Thursday, August 6 at 1:30pm CT
Quake “Dawn of the Machine” | 30 Years w/ John Romero + Marty Stratton & MachineGames
- Join us for a special stream celebrating the 30-year legacy of Quake with id Software co-founder John Romero, and id Software Co-Studio Director / Executive Producer Marty Stratton as we dive into Dawn of the Machine with creators Pontus Wåhlin and Patrick Liu from MachineGames!*
Thursday, August 6 at 6:00pm CT
Slayers Club Live | DOOM: The Dark Ages Ripatorium 3.0 Hotseat | w/ Hugo Martin
Join id Software co-Director/Game Director Hugo Martin & Community Lead Joshua as they challenge audience members to some of the toughest community-created encounters in Ripatorium 3.0!
Friday, August 7 at 3:30pm CT
Slayers Club Live | DOOM: The Dark Ages | Revelations | w/ John Romero + Hugo Martin
Join us for a special DOOM: The Dark Ages | Revelations stream where, for the first time ever, we are joined by both id Software co-founder John Romero and id Software co-Director/Game Director Hugo Martin.
Saturday, August 8 at 11:30am CT
Slayers Club Live | DOOM II | John Romero vs BYOC Deathmatch Finals
Join us for a special DOOM II Deathmatch Duel for the AGES! id Software co-founder John Romero faces off live against the best BYOC Duel player in an intense best-of-five throwdown, with id Software co-Director/Game Director Hugo Martin and Community Lead Joshua Boyle providing commentary.
PREORDER THE QUAKE x NINE INCH NAILS COLLAB
The 30th Anniversary of Quake also means celebrating 30 years of one of gaming’s most iconic musical collaborations. The official Quake x Nine Inch Nails merchandise collection features an exclusive t-shirt, hoodie, ammo crate keychain (with sound effects!) and more.
ORDER THE NEWEST ID SIGNATURE SERIES WAVE TODAY
New designs have joined the id Signature Series, now available in the official Bethesda Gear Store online as well as at QuakeCon 2026. Pick up the Lost Souls Tee designed by Alejandro Mirabal, Komodo Tee by Colin Geller or Demons Hoodie by Gavin Manners today!
PREPARE FOR QUAKE: THE BOARD GAME
From the screen to your tabletop comes Quake: The Board Game, a fast-paced, cooperative dungeon crawler coming soon from Archon Studios! Players collect classic Quake weapons and power-ups, outflank enemies using a card-based action system and enjoy detailed, high-quality miniatures bringing the franchises characters and bad guys to life (and you bet there’s an optional Deathmatch mode too!)
ANNOUNCING THE DOOM COLLECTION FOR EVERCADE AND EVERCADE NEXUS DOOM EDITION
Available for preorder at participating retailers, The DOOM Collection brings DOOM (1993) and DOOM II to Evercade’s game cartridge lineup, containing community expansions, Evercade-exclusive gameplay modifiers and compatibility with Evercade’s lineup of handhelds including the Evercade VS-R, Evercade Alpha and Evercade Nexus.
- If you’re attending QuakeCon in person this year, stop by the Evercade booth in the BYOC Hall! See our event map for details
There’s more! Take retro slaying action on the go in style with the Evercade Nexus DOOM Edition. Limited to just 3,000 units worldwide, this collector's edition of Evercade’s Nexus handheld features an exclusive DOOM theme, a special big-box version of The DOOM Collection cartridge, carrying case, commemorative keyring, a numbered Certificate of Authenticity and more. Both the DOOM Collection cartridge and Evercade Nexus DOOM Edition release October 2026.
RETURN TO CASTLE WOLFENSTEIN IS AVAILABLE UNCUT IN GERMANY
We are excited to announce that, for the very first time, Return to Castle Wolfenstein is now available in Germany, uncut and uncensored, on the Microsoft Store, Steam and GOG!
