Quake Champions Drops Free-to-Play for Buy-to-Play at 1,210 Yen
A live-service shooter that spent eight years monetizing through battle passes, loot boxes, and two currencies is closing all of those channels at once and switching off new content, which makes the paid download the last revenue source left.
Key Facts
- Bethesda Softworks announced Quake Champions has transitioned from free-to-play to buy-to-play.
- Quake Champions was free-to-play starting in 2018 and now sells on Steam for 1,210 yen.
- The Version 1.31 update unlocks all Champions for all users and opens 30 seasons of content.
- Battle passes, microtransactions, the store, Platinum and Shards currencies, loot boxes, daily login, and weekly and event challenges have been abolished.
- Players who bought Platinum Packs in the 60 days before September 23, 2026 qualify for refunds, with a six-month window for players who paid in Japanese yen.
Reporting from 2 sources: GameBusiness.jp, Game Spark.
Bethesda Softworks announced that Quake Champions, the arena FPS developed by id Software with Saber Interactive, has moved from free-to-play to buy-to-play. The game launched its free-to-play model in 2018. The Version 1.31 update carries the change. All Champions are now unlocked for all users, players can work through 30 seasons of content, and most cosmetic items can be equipped. Battle passes, microtransactions, the store, the Platinum and Shards currencies, loot boxes, daily login rewards, weekly and event challenges, and the Champion progression shard reward route have all ended. No further content updates are currently planned. The game is sold on Steam for 1,210 yen. Players from the free-to-play period keep access at no extra cost, and the Microsoft Store version has ended distribution, with those players getting Steam access by linking their Bethesda.net account to a Steam account.
Refunds are part of the transition. Players who bought Platinum Packs in the 60 days before September 23, 2026, when the switch took effect, qualify for refunds. For players who paid in Japanese yen, the window stretches to six months before that date, based on local law.
Quake Champions was shown in a trailer in 2016 and mixes the setting of the original Quake with the competitive structure of Quake III Arena, with each Champion carrying its own traits and abilities. The 1.31 update is the mechanism that unlocks the roster and opens the cosmetic catalog. The Microsoft Store version is the one that stops distribution; the Steam version continues at 1,210 yen.
The end of the content pipeline and the removal of the currency system mean the title is being frozen at its current state rather than developed further.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 2 cited sources below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.