Quake Champions ditches free-to-play and kills off its Microsoft Store version eight years after its original release
AI-summarised brief · reviewed before publication
id Software announced that its free‑to‑play shooter Quake Champions will become a paid‑only title, ending its eight‑year lifecycle as a live‑service game. Starting with patch 1.31, the game will be sold for £8.99/$9.99 on Steam, bundling content from all 30 seasonal updates, unlocking every champion and most cosmetics for all players, and stripping battle passes, loot boxes, microtransactions and the in‑game store. Development will cease, with no further content planned. Existing Steam players receive the full version at no cost, while recent Platinum purchasers (within 60 days of 23 Sept) are eligible for refunds. The Microsoft Store version is being discontinued; users who linked Bethesda and Steam accounts before 23 Sept will be granted a Steam copy, a process that must be completed by 7 Oct.
💡 Why It Matters
- · By converting a long‑running free‑to‑play experiment into a one‑time purchase, id Software is testing whether legacy live‑service titles can be salvaged through a “pay‑once, all‑access” model, potentially reshaping how developers retire underperforming games.
