Quake Champions is a return to the frenetic, fast-paced competition that established Quake as the originator of the multiplayer shooter genre more than 20 years ago.

Quake Champions delivers the dark mythos of the first Quake combined with the groundbreaking multiplayer mayhem of Quake III Arena with a major modern twist – Champions. These fierce warriors each wield different attributes and abilities, enabling players to compete in their own distinctive style, while adding an additional layer of strategy to the game.

Quake Champions continues to evolve and grow in Early Access thanks to the feedback from the community, and this month’s update is no exception. Live today, the game’s June update introduces innovative features that will make it faster and easier for friends to jump in and get good together, including the launch of one of the community’s most requested features – Bots.

Read on for all the gory details!

UPDATES

• BOTS GALORE – Want to hone your skill? Did some quitter bail from a game mid-match, leaving your TDM crew a bit short? Well, now Bots are here to save you. That’s right, the same kind of AI that will soon reach singularity and grow into our apocalyptic overlords now powers (optional) enemies in-game! Featuring a scalable skill level to help players practice and improve in training mode, Bots will also automagically fill slots in live games where needed. This small, first phase of the impending robo-pocalypse – in Quake form – supports Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and Instagib modes. More exciting updates on our road to Matrix-style Armageddon are scheduled to come soon!
• GLORIFIED GORE – Gibbing enemies into a misty flower of blood and guts has been a key part of all id games, and Quake Championsalready has some juicy, entrails-blasting death scenes. But, what if I told you that the ferocious combat and visceral injury of the Arena could be made even more brutal, with the new Gore System, added today? Yes, now, in this first stage of Gore, each Champion has received a unique gib-makeover, with attention paid to the individual pieces of armor they wear, as well as their proper organs, cybernetics, and appendages, to create precious works of Pollockian art.  The new Gore System even adjusts the gooey airborne chunks based on the special skins or shaders a Champion is wearing. It’s splatterific!
• AN UPDATED STORE – With the Gore System shredding friends and foes into a super-detailed mess, it’s more important than ever to play dress up and make your Champion unique. To that end, the in-game store has been updated with tons of new cosmetics, allowing players to dress up before they are dressed down.
• AND LOTS MORE – Community feedback is more important than ever, and because of one of the most vibrant and fun communities in gaming, the team has also added the following changes to the game:
  • Multi-Mode Play Lists: Been playing all day and need to mix it up? Now you can change modes between matches while remaining in the Match Lobby. Players can vote on what they want to play next, choosing between two selected combinations of mode and map, and one random option. Stay in the Arenas FOREVER! You know … like Ranger!
  • Killer Cam and Stacks: Quake Champions is fast. So fast that sometimes you can’t even tell how someone survived fragging you. Now, during unranked matches, the new Killer Cam will show freshly fagged players their opponent’s remaining Health and Armor on the death screen. They made the kill with 1HP? Good for them -- now get back in there and get revenge with a single machine gun shot!
  • Team Health and Armor Stacks: In team-based modes, the Health and Armor stacks of allies will show onscreen so players can decide whether to suck up that Mega-Health for themselves or leave it for their barely surviving friend.
  • New Progression and Loot Systems: Earning XP has been adjusted to help people climb levels faster. In addition, players who choose to play in parties will receive bonus XP and Favor. Backpacks, Chests and Reliquaries also now have a lower number of duplicates and Shards can be used to purchase Chests. The entire system is faster, easier, and more rewarding than ever.
  • New Way to Try – and Buy -- Champs: The roster of Champions has grown since Early Access launched and our free players want to keep trying the new additions. To help make this easier, Champion rental has been removed and replaced with a rotation of free Champions. In addition, Champions can now be permanently unlocked with in-game Favor as well as premium Platinum – in short, you can now try Champions easier and acquire new Champions just by playing.
  • Balance Changes: In addition to the more on-the-surface improvements, Quake Champions is receiving some under-the-hood tweaks to improve the overall balance of the game. These changes include alterations to movement speed, health and armor stacks for Light, Medium and Heavy Champions as well as changes to certain weapon statistics and specific Champions abilities.

Quake Champions is available now in Early Access on Steam and via Bethesda.net.

Key Features:

• The Next Great Quake Multiplayer Game: Quake's signature rocket jumping, skill-based competition, and incredible speed remains intact, providing veterans with a welcome return and new players a fresh way to showcase their multiplayer skills. Players will frag enemies using a variety of powerful weapons while battling their friends in four competitive game modes, including Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Duel, and the team-focused Sacrifice.
• Incredible, Diverse Champions: Quake Champions will introduce a roster of elite Champions, each equipped with unique attributes and abilities that are additive to Quake's established gameplay. Champions are colorful, charismatic - and sometimes weird - and possess both an Active and Passive ability designed to enhance individual play styles. Players can choose a Champion based on abilities or style, from Quake vets like Ranger and Anarki, to newcomers like Clutch and Scalebearer.
• Uncompromising Weapons, Ready for Battle: Quake III Arena's devastating arsenal of flesh-chewing weaponry, including fan-favorites like the thunderous Rocket Launcher, electrifying Lightning Gun, and snipe-tastic Railgun are back along with the Shotgun, Machine Gun, and the ever-personable melee-masher, the Gauntlet. Players can also acquire classic versions of weapons, including the Quake 1 Rocket Launcher, the Quake 2 Railgun, and more.
• Intense Game Modes: Established and beloved game modes return, including the gib-filled fragfests of Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch and the competitive fury of 1v1 Duel mode, while a new team-based mode, Sacrifice, joins the fray. Playing like a combination of Domination and Single Flag Capture the Flag, Sacrifice challenges players to work together, strategize, and dominate the arena.
• Play for Free Or Upgrade to the Champions Pack: Quake Champions will be available for free to all PC players, with all maps, modes, and weapons included, as well as an initial Champion, Ranger. Additional Champions will be available for trial and purchase individually. Players can alternatively choose to purchase the Champions Pack, a version that will include the full roster of Champions and additional, exclusive bonuses. Free players can upgrade to the Champions Pack at any time. Both free and paid players will be able to play all modes and maps, uniting paid and free players in a single, endless test of skill.
• Your Champion, Your Style: Players can upgrade and customize armor appearance, vanity items, weapons, and more through a loot box-style system. These boxes can be earned by leveling up, purchased using in-game currency, or purchased through the in-game store for money.