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Quake
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.
Synthesized from 5
Yomimono stories · updated
Sep 22
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.
Key facts
- Latest Quake release
- Dawn of the Machine, a new episode for the original Quake, released on August 7, 2026. ↗
- Developer
- MachineGames developed Dawn of the Machine. ↗
- Content
- The update adds 19 new maps, a looping campaign, new weapons and enemies, and a deathmatch mode. ↗
- Platforms and price
- It is free for owners of Quake on PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox, and Switch 2. ↗
- Development account
- Sandy Petersen, co-designer of Quake, posted a thread titled "How Quake destroyed id Software," detailing grueling development and staff departures. ↗
- Founder response
- John Carmack and John Romero quoted the post and reflected on the past. ↗
- 1996 CD-ROM encryption
- The 1996 Quake CD-ROM, which encrypted the full game catalog, was cracked in 39 days. ↗
- Unsold CDs
- The shareware experiment failed, leaving about 150,000 CDs unsold, according to the book Masters of Doom. ↗
- Watson tour dates and scope
- Rapper Watson will tour 19 live houses across Japan from August to September 2026 in support of his album Soul Quake 3. ↗
- Watson tour format
- The tour is his first daytime solo format, runs from Okinawa to Hokkaido, and ends at Shibuya CLUB QUATTRO. ↗
Timeline
Synthesized by Yomimono from the cited Yomimono stories below, each itself
sourced, then editorially reviewed. Every
fact links the story it came from.
Facts
- Release
- game · 1996 · 2026-08-18
- Release
- game · 30th anniversary · 2026-06-27
- Noted
- encrypted the full game catalog · 2026-08-18
- Noted
- was cracked in 39 days · 2026-08-18
- Noted
- shareware experiment failed · 2026-08-18
- Noted
- leaving about 150,000 CDs unsold · 2026-08-18
- Noted
- 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. · 2026-06-27
Connections
Structured graph also available as JSON at /public/entities/quake.
CC BY 4.0.
All coverage
Oct 3
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.
Sep 19
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.
Aug 18
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.
Aug 10
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.
Jun 27
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.
Jun 12
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.