id Software released Dawn of the Machine, a new episode for the original Quake, on August 7, 2026, free for owners of Quake on PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox, and Switch 2. The 30th anniversary year has also brought renewed attention to the game's troubled development and its 1996 CD-ROM sales failure.
Quake's 30th anniversary has been marked by a substantial free update and by new accounts of how the original game was made. id Software released Dawn of the Machine on August 7, 2026, a new episode for the original Quake developed by MachineGames. The update adds 19 new maps, a looping campaign, new weapons and enemies, and a deathmatch mode. It is free for owners of Quake on PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox, and Switch 2.
The anniversary also prompted public reflection from people who worked on the 1996 game. In June, Sandy Petersen, a co-designer of Quake, posted a thread titled "How Quake destroyed id Software," describing grueling development that led to the departure of key staff. John Carmack and John Romero quoted the post and reflected on the past. A separate August account from developer and blogger Fabien Sanglard examined the 1996 Quake CD-ROM, which encrypted the full game catalog and was cracked in 39 days. The shareware experiment failed, leaving about 150,000 CDs unsold, according to the book Masters of Doom.
Coverage of the name Quake on the music side is a separate matter. Rapper Watson will tour 19 live houses across Japan from August to September 2026 in support of his album Soul Quake 3, his first daytime solo format. The tour runs from Okinawa to Hokkaido and ends at Shibuya CLUB QUATTRO, with advance tickets on sale June 12.
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v0lt is giving away the retro-style FPS Deadshot on Steam until September 24 at 2:00 AM, and players who claim it keep it. The game released on Steam on September 18, 2024, and the 5-day giveaway marks its 2nd anniversary. It has 3 chapters of 6 stages each, 7 weapon types, and 5 attachment types. It is also on sale for 655 yen.
Game developer and blogger Fabien Sanglard explains why id Software's 1996 Quake CD-ROM, which encrypted the full game catalog, was cracked in 39 days. The shareware experiment failed, leaving about 150,000 CDs unsold, according to the book Masters of Doom.
id Software released Dawn of the Machine, a new episode for the original Quake, on August 7, 2026. Developed by MachineGames, the update adds 19 new maps, a looping campaign, new weapons, enemies, and a deathmatch mode. It is free for owners of Quake on PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox, and Switch 2.
Sandy Petersen, co-designer of Quake, posted a thread titled 'How Quake destroyed id Software,' detailing how grueling development led to the departure of key staff. John Carmack and John Romero quoted the post and reflected on the past, drawing attention to the game's 30th anniversary.
Rapper Watson will tour 19 live houses across Japan from August to September 2026 in support of his album Soul Quake 3. The tour, his first daytime solo format, runs from Okinawa to Hokkaido and ends at Shibuya CLUB QUATTRO. Advance tickets go on sale June 12.