Experience Quake II, enhanced in partnership with Nightdive Studios to bring the ground-breaking shooter to modern hardware with new content, online multiplayer, visual upgrades and more! Play the enhanced Quake II today on Game Pass, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4.

As humanity's last hope, it's up to you to stop the wicked Strogg's warpath before it twists mankind into mechanical horrors. The odds are stacked against you on a hostile alien planet teeming with enemy forces, but so long as you have ammo and a pulse, it's not over! Battle hordes of cybernetic creatures in blistering FPS combat, strafing through Quake II's campaign with an iconic arsenal of bullets, rockets and shells. Enjoy Quake II's legendary gameplay, preserved and complete with the original soundtrack by Sonic Mayhem, now enhanced with widescreen support, restored content previously left on the cutting room floor, visual and performance upgrades to make every muzzle flash and gib-plosion pop on-screen and even new levels.

The Ultimate upgrade is complete - GeForce NOW Ultimate performance is now streaming all throughout North America and Europe, delivering RTX 4080-class power for gamers across these regions. Celebrate this month with 41 new games, on top of the full release of Baldur's Gate 3 and the first Bethesda titles coming to the cloud as the NVIDIA and Microsoft partnership benefits gamers everywhere.

And catch GeForce NOW at QuakeCon - the popular bring-your-own-PC mega-event running Aug. 10-13 - where the in-person and digital GeForce NOW Ultimate challenge will kick off. Plus, game on with gaming peripherals and accessories company SteelSeries, which will be giving away codes for three-day GeForce NOW Ultimate and Priority memberships, along with popular GeForce NOW games and in-game goodies.

We're excited to announce that we're once again partnering with Computer Upgrade King to provide our attendees with the ability to rent either a monitor and or a full PC set up. As an added bonus to our Elite ticket holders, Computer Upgrade King is offering a special rental package with a 34" Ultrawide Monitor! For more information, and to secure yours today, visit beth.games/43obykp.

Need a rig? Reserve your computer at QuakeCon 2023. It's official! After three years of digital-only events, QuakeCon 2023 will mark the return of the beloved BYOC, in-person at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas from Thursday, August 10 through Sunday, August 13.

Gematsu - a Japanese news site - has discovered that the Game Rating and Administration Committee of Korea uploaded its rating of an announced remake of Quake II (1997) on May 31—apparently "not suitable" for youths. This could repeat a pattern from 2021, where the same committee registered the original Quake's remastered version prior to an official unveiling at that year's livestreamed QuakeCon event.

QuakeCon 2023 is heading back to its roots—with a return to an in-person format "at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas from Thursday, August 10 through Sunday, August 13." It is quite possible that Quake II Remastered will get an unveiling at the late summer convention. It will be interesting to see how the upcoming remaster will sit beside the existing RTX version—the South Korean rating info mentions new online multiplayer options, 4K resolution plus widescreen support, as well as support for community modification.

QuakeCon 2023 Returns to its Roots, Reuniting Fans with a Modern Upgrade to the Classic BYOC - It's official! After three years of digital-only events, QuakeCon 2023 will mark the return of the beloved BYOC, in-person at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas from Thursday, August 10 through Sunday, August 13.

"QuakeCon is our favorite event of the year, and we can't wait to finally see our incredible QuakeCon community in-person again, celebrate games, and frag all weekend with thousands of friends." said Marty Stratton, Studio Head, id Software. "For our first year back, QuakeCon 2023 is focusing on the fan favorite BYOC and the players that made QuakeCon the best gaming gathering for more than 25 years."

A job posting with ZeniMax media, the Microsoft-owned game publisher that holds id Software, Bethesda, Machine Games, among other big studios, reveals that id Software is already working on its next first-person shooter. The posting calls for a UI programmer and senior graphics programmer, to "work on legendary id games for PC and next-generation console systems."

It's anybody's guess what this game could be—the next DOOM, making the 2016 reboot part of a trilogy? The next Quake, with MOBA elements or the Ranger timeline reboot? Definitely not the next Wolfenstein, since Machine Games handles the franchise? Something entirely new? Regardless, the posting hints at the likelihood of this new title only targeting PC and next-gen consoles (Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5), cutting out legacy ones (Xbox One, and PlayStation 4).

I don't know about you, but I've found the Dishonored universe to be one of the most interesting ones to be explored in gaming in recent years. Now, publisher Bethesda has made the dishonored franchise available via CD Projekt Red's GOG digital storefront, which means DRM-free versions of games you get to keep forever, as well as digital goodies. The original Dishonored and DLC, alongside Dishonored 2 and its expansion Death of the Outsider (too late for a spoiler alert, uh?) are now available with discounts up to 75% off.

Wolfenstein: The New Order and Wolfenstein: The Old Blood are also available through GOG as of now, so if you have a Nazi-killing craving lurking somewhere in your conscious or subconscious mind, GOG has that itch covered for you with hefty discounts as well (and these are extensive to the entirety of Bethesda's published catalogue on GOG, including those more retro pieces of gaming such as Quake and Doom). Go now, and be happy.

NVIDIA plans to release their adaptation of Quake, called Quake II RTX, soon on Steam. The Quake II RTX will be free(in some cases) to play, full Quake II game, with additional features such as ray tracing. The game is using Vulkan API for its Ray Tracing capabilities and requires NVIDIA's Turing GPUs in order to play with and use all of the advanced lighting effects.

All the owners of the original Quake II on Steam will get the RTX update free of charge. However, new users will get only 3 levels to play for free and if they want more levels with multiplayer as well, they will have to purchase the original Quake II for $4.99. The game will become available on June 6th, one day from present.

During its QuakeCon 2018 keynote, Bethesda has announced that Quake Champions is now permanently fixed in a Free to Play model - no more will you have to wait for free-entrance weekends to grab a little time with this game - which is still in Early Access though - don't forget that little tidbit.

Included in the base Free to Play model are Quake Champions Quickplay, Arcade, and Ranked modes, maps, and two Champions (the Ranger and Scalebearer). Bethesda will also keep one extra free Champion on a weekly rotation, but gamers who want to make use of another Champion can purchase access to it through Fervor - earned by completing matches. Of course, if you want to have access to the full Champion package, Bethesda has a promotion going on the Champions Pack, which gives you access to all current and future Champions - usually $40, reduced to $19.79 during QuakeCon, and another sale for $30 until September 4.

If you are feeling nostalgic or want to see what all the fuss was about regarding those legendary Quake games, id Software has you covered. In looking for extra knowledge on how to fine-tune its game and servers, the game developer is asking that you sign up for the challenge, which you can do on the game's website. Even though there has been a closed beta already for close to a month, if you didn't make it, now is your chance.

The tech test will start on May 12 and run through May 21, during which time you'll be able to play anytime throughout the testing period. In the game, you'll find three game modes the Beta testers have already driven into their minds and quick trigger fingers - Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and Duel. However, id Software is debuting another, fourth mode, Sacrifice, which pits two teams with four players each. Expect some nuances on the details of this game mode's workings, but if an image is worth a thousand words, a trek through the game should be worth slightly more than that.

The long term strategic partnership between AMD and Bethesda seems to be on full swing, with branding and marketing for both companies appearing in increasingly intertwined states (did you see that shortcut article we posted earlier in the week?) First, with Arkane Studios' Prey and Vega marketing, which gave us the first glimpse towards a release window for AMD's new high-performance graphics architecture. Now, it's another Bethesda IP, in the form of Quake Champions, that makes such an appearance.

Case in point: a leaked image from Informatica Cero, which shows packaging for what seems like a bundle of Quake Champions and AMD's RX Vega, which "brings gaming to life". The joint marketing does go hand in hand with AMD and Bethesda's partnership, so there's that, though if this was to be the packaging for a RX Vega graphics card, I have to say it seems a little too heavy-handed on the Quake side of it.

AMD made headlines yesterday (27th April), when AMD Radeon users discovered that their GPU driver update places a promotional link to a "Quake Champions" beta signup on their desktops. The Radeon Software Crimson ReLive 17.4.4 drivers leave a shortcut on your desktop which reads "Quake Champions," and has the official icon. The shortcut, however, points to a URL, which leads to a "Quake Champions" beta signup on publisher Bethesda's website. You can't opt not to see this icon during the driver setup's "custom setup" component selection page. The URL contains a referral extension, which made some people accuse AMD of trying to make money off it, a charge the company denies.

This caused major uproar in social media, with some comments calling it "adware" and AMD losing the moral high ground over NVIDIA, which marketed games through its GeForce Experience app. Sensing a PR fumble on its hands, AMD updated Radeon Software 17.4.4 drivers on its downloads page, which no longer plants the "Quake Champions" shortcut on your desktop. AMD could be testing the waters with how it could monetize its driver updates further. The company, like NVIDIA, already has game banner advertisements in the driver installer. AMD denied that it is making any money off the referral link, and that it is only using referral data to gauge activity.

NVIDIA today released GeForce 381.65 WHQL "Game Ready" drivers. The drivers come with optimization for "Quake Champions" closed beta. This isn't, however, the biggest change with these drivers. These are the first WHQL-signed drivers from NVIDIA to support WDDM 2.2, and with it, the upcoming Windows 10 Creators Update, due for April 11th. The drivers also add DTS X and Dolby Atmos support for 5.1.2 speaker configuration through the GPU's in-built audio controller (which outputs from the HDMI and DP connectors). Also added is support for Dolby Vision. Games "Snake Pass" and "Kona" get support for NVIDIA Ansel. There's also the curious case of the driver's release-notes mentioning "Added support for the NVIDIA TITAN Xp." Could this indicate a new TITAN SKU being on the horizon?DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 385.65 WHQL

With the success of Blizzard's "Overwatch," it's only natural for game studio Bethesda to develop the oldest, most successful hero-based FPS brand from the early 2000s, "Quake III Arena," into a brand-new title that keeps up with the times, and perhaps even sets new standards. That title is "Quake Champions," and Bethesda is tapping into big id Software talent in its development.

"Quake Champions" will by driven by a proprietary engine that's not id Tech 6. This game will take advantage of the Vulkan API, besides an OpenGL fallback, and as part of an agreement between Bethesda and AMD, it could feature optimization for AMD Ryzen processors. "Quake Champions" will build on the things that made Quake III Arena a cult-classic, besides featuring a cutting-edge production design. Besides PC, the game will launch on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 platforms.

This month is the 20th Anniversary of Wolfenstein 3D. To celebrate id Software and Bethesda have given us all a free browser-based version of its seminal shooter. John Carmack has also given a director's commentary, full of the usual fascinating Carmackchat. You can play the snazzy HTML 5 version of Wolf 3D if you're browsing in Firefox 10, Chrome 16, Internet Explorer 9, Safari 5, or newer. Fingers crossed that your work computer is updated vaguely frequently. id Software got distracted by Doom and Quake after the release of a Wolf 3D prequel, but the series returned in 2001 with Return to Castle Wolfenstein from Grey Matter and Nerve Software. Splash Damage followed this with the superb free multiplayer spin-off Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, then the last entry in the series was Raven's Wolfenstein in 2009. The iOS version is also going temporarily free in the App Store some time later today. Here is the Link

Despite the less than mind-blowing title Rage, gamers who have been around long enough have come to know not to take id Software and its upcoming games lightly, especially if they're from one of its star franchises such as Doom and Quake. AllGamesBeta posted what it claims to be leaked screenshots of Doom 4, which it also goes on to claim as being "doomed" (cancelled), citing rumors. Close to two dozen of these screenshots can be found at the source. They reveal what [could have been] the setting of Doom 4, probably of the horrors unleashed on Mars (in Doom 3 and Resurrection of Evil) finding their way to Earth.

The highly anticipated first person shooter/Mech simulator Hawken is stated to be released on the 12th of December this year. 12-12-12. What makes this an interesting development is the game will be released under the a free-to-play model. Normally a free-to-play model is really just a pay for extended content model. How Adhesive Games the Hawken developer is going to set this up is unknown. What is known is the game looks to be quite beautiful with a slight Quake 3 feel to it. Luckily for the Mech junkies in the PC community we will have access to a beta before we make the plunge in December. If you sign up three friends Adhesive Games will reserve your call sign when the game finally debuts. Open enrollment has already started. You can sign up here.

So what are you waiting for? Get to blasting!

AMD would be releasing its desktop 45nm CPUs, starting with two models under the Phenom II X4 banner. At this point in time, there is a great deal of uncertainty about when AMD plans to stock retailers with the new CPUs. The company's own roadmaps pointed out to a Q1 2009 launch, with several sources reporting then, that an early January launch was likely, but now it seems unlikely according to sources, who suggest these processors to stock up in March or later.

Meanwhile, a slide showing what looks like the the company's performance projections for the Phenom II X4 940, made its way to Expreview. The Phenom II X4 940 quad-core processor (Black Edition variant) would serve as the company's flagship desktop processor in the months to come, until it gets a proper AM3 refresh, and taken over by Phenom II X4 945. In the slide, the Phenom II X4 940 is pitted against two seemingly mainstream quad-core processors by Intel: Core 2 Quad Q9300 and Core 2 Quad Q9400. A percentage comparison in the gaming performance across some games and 3DMark06 is shown.

While the first half of this year saw almost no interesting video games, it seems that this half of the year is seeing a new blockbuster every month. The very anticipated shooter Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, which was co-developed by id Software and Activision, has officially gone gold. In an unusual move, Europeans/Australians will get the video game before their North American counterparts. Europeans and Australians will get to play the game on September 28th, while the North Americans have to wait until October 2nd for their turn.

The PC version of this game is $49USD, and $59USD for the Limited Collectors Edition. Xbox 360 and PS3 ports are "in the works", but there is no word as to when we can see them.

Neil Postlethwaite, Managing Director for Splash Damage, came onto the ET:QW official community site yesterday to make the announcement. In order to bring not just basic bug patches but continuous refinements and improvements to what the company hopes will be a long-standing multiplayer experience, the developer has gone the route of In-game advertising.

"For the last four years, we've put all of our effort into making Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars. So, we're not planning to ship this game and walk away. We want to keep supporting ETQW in as many ways as possible. We'll be maintaining the persistent stats servers and the community site, and continuing to support ETQW with updates and improvements," Neil said in his post.

In his comments, he also made sure to cover privacy concerns regarding the advertising. "The company providing the ad system does not and will not store any personal information or data that otherwise can be used to identify you. All they track is if and how long you look at the advertisements." Whether that will be enough to quell the privacy critics or not has yet to be seen, but at least the comments so far have been largely positive.