Quake Champions Shifts from Free-to-Play to Paid Model After Eight Years
- Quake Champions is converting to a paid model at £8.99/$9.99 and is only available on Steam.
- The transition ends ongoing development, with no further content updates planned.
- Players can receive refunds or get the game for free based on purchase and account status.
Developer id Software’s free-to-play shooter Quake Champions is set to transition into a paid product, eight years following its initial release. As part of this change, the Microsoft studio is discontinuing the Microsoft Store version of the game, making it exclusively available on Steam.
The new paid version of Quake Champions will be priced at £8.99/$9.99, granting access to content from all 30 seasons released since its debut. All Champions, which are the game’s hero characters, will be unlocked for players, and most cosmetic items will also be accessible for all users. However, this shift signifies the conclusion of ongoing development; “No additional content updates are planned at this time,” id Software confirmed on Steam.
The final chapter for Quake Champions commences with patch 1.31, implementing significant changes such as the removal of battle passes, the in-game store, paid currencies, loot boxes, login rewards, and all microtransactions. The user interface will be revamped to eliminate various free-to-play elements, enhancing the prominence of character customization in the main menu.
Players who purchased the Platinum membership within 60 days prior to September 23 will receive a refund. Additionally, those who have previously played Quake Champions on Steam will automatically gain access to this updated version at no extra cost. The transition from the Microsoft Store “Xbox on PC” version presents some challenges. If you played before September 23 and have linked your Bethesda and Steam accounts, a Steam copy of Quake Champions will be provided within 48 hours, as confirmed by Bethesda. If the accounts are not linked or if you do not have a Steam account, you will need to create one, log into your Bethesda account, and link both accounts here. This process must be completed by October 7.
Quake Champions originally launched in paid early access in 2017 and was viewed as a live-service experiment by id Software. The game transitioned to a free-to-play model in 2018 and achieved a full release in 2022, following multiple updates that introduced new characters, weapons, and various vanity items reflecting id Software’s legacy.
Despite its ambitions, Quake Champions did not achieve the expected impact. At its peak, the game reached 17,476 concurrent players on Steam (via SteamDB) upon its initial release. Recently, however, it has been averaging around 600 daily players, and the game never made its way to consoles, which further limited its audience.
News Courtesy of Eurogamer
