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."

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.

Quake Champions continues to grow and evolve in Early Access thanks to new content, features, and improvements driven by feedback from the community. Next Thursday, 15th March, id Software will roll out the next big free update for Quake Champions, delivering new ways to play and fun new looks. This will include the return of Instagib - the first new game mode added since closed beta - the introduction of 'No Abilities Mode' in custom games; a new 2v2 version of Ranked Play for competitive players and a variety of fresh seasonal cosmetics to commemorate the coming of Spring.

id Software has continued to update and improve Quake Champions throughout Early Access based on the feedback and requests of the player community. This week on Dec. 14, Quake Champions will receive one of its largest updates to date, delivering new content and features including a new Champion, Keel, who returns from Quake 3 Arena and Quake Live; a new arena for Duel and 2v2, Vale of Pnath; Ranked Play and Leaderboards; plus a ton of festive, holiday-themed gear and maps for a limited time.

Over the past couple of months, inflation in AMD Radeon GPU prices, in part fueled by silicon shortages, and in part by non-gamers (read: crypto-currency miners) buying up graphics cards, have impacted the AMD Radeon brand in the eyes of its target audience - PC gamers and graphics professionals. It was initially believed that market forces are driving the inflation, and that AMD had little to do with the price inflation. We then uncovered a clue that not just end-users, but even retailers are being sold AMD Radeon graphics cards at prices way above AMD's launch SEP. A Tweet by an official AMD Twitter handle shows that inflated AMD Radeon graphics card prices has the company's official sanction.

"@AMDGaming," a verified Twitter handle held by AMD, which promotes the company's products targeted at gamers, such as AMD Radeon graphics cards, and Ryzen processors; posted a promotion in which an XFX branded Radeon RX 570 graphics card, which is being sold at USD $279, including a free coupon for a "Quake Champions" pack free, was made to appear as if at its price, it's a great deal. The RX 570 was launched at USD $169 for the 4 GB variant, and $199 for the 8 GB variant. The XFX Radeon RX 570 4 GB RS (the card being marketed in the Tweet) was launched at $179. The Tweet was met with angry reactions for how blatantly AMD was marketing price-inflated Radeon graphics cards, without actually doing something about taming the prices.

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.