Quake Champions aims to bring characters to id's arena shooter, will it succeed?

The audience’s perception of balance—something all hero shooters struggle with—is, I imagine, going to be particularly troublesome for id. Think about it: if a character gets singled out as being particularly overpowered, it could turn Quake fans against the entire Champions experience. This isn’t a problem Overwatch has to deal with, because there’s no history Blizzard can be accused of ruining. But Quake is 20 years old, and the danger is that id’s most loyal supporters may feel cheated out of a new, updated version of what they already know they love. 

“It really is more additive,” Willits says of champion abilities, “and it really does just add more depth to it, but we’ll have to wait and see. We have a lot of pro gamers playing right now, and we’re listening to them. There’s already some things that they’ve mentioned. But yes, balancing is definitely a challenge. I always joke that, when we have a new champion that comes out, if I destroy everybody I’m like ‘OK, this one’s probably OP.’ I always joke that ‘Oh, well, I won a match so it must be OP, so we have to fix that one!’” 

QuakeCon culminated in a Quake Champions exhibition match between two teams of pro players. It was a chance to verify Willits’ claims that Champions is, at its heart, still Quake. The early signs looked promising. The first match showed off a new mode, Sacrifice, in which players could capture obelisks to gain more points for each kill. It’s the sort of objective-focused mode that suits a hero shooter, but crucially one that still incentivises frags. 

The exhibition also featured plenty of classic Quake moments. Veteran pro Fatal1ty was on form, strafe-jumping down a hallway, over a wall and up a jump pad, then scoring a mid-air railgun kill on an opposing player. Elsewhere, players duelled with lightning guns, strafe-dancing around incoming fire. Such interactions are recognisably Quake, and could go a long way to assuaging doubts. There are changes, however, and not all of them directly related to the champions and their abilities. For instance, in Champions, the Quad Damage pickup also grants teammates a lesser damage buff, creating a potentially crucial secondary objective in each game. 

The second match was a classic Team Deathmatch on Blood Covenant—a map inspired by Quake Live’s Campgrounds. Again, it offered familiar Quake action, as teams worked to lock down the Quad Damage pickup before the timer ran out. It also offered a chance to see how the champions worked outside of objective-based modes. Fears of Visor being OP were put to rest as, despite his Piercing Sight forewarning him of approaching enemies, his positioning was obvious enough that the opposition could work together to take him down.

It also looks as if character switching will be a big part of the action. In the match, players would switch to Galena before the Quad Damage spawned, because her healing skill helped keep people alive to secure the area. Then, many switched to Anarki as Quad Damage was engaged—his lower health is less of an issue when the damage buff is in play, and his high speed offers a significant advantage.

The exhibition match was just the first example of what id hopes will be a healthy Quake Champions esports scene. Pro players are already helping with testing, as Willits noted, and id is currently weighing up its options regarding competitive support. “Bethesda in general is committed to supporting and building esports events,” says Willits. “But we haven’t quite figured out our roadmap.”

Previously id has taken a mostly hands-off approach to Quake’s competitive scene, but esports as a whole is much bigger now, and many studios are taking it upon themselves to run events and tournaments in-house. “We do feel that a little curating, a little nudging and a little course-steering will definitely help, so we’re still trying to figure out what our specific plans are,” Willits explains. “I can tell you that we are all-in on support, and we want to try and help make these events as great as they can be. But the Quake community does awesome stuff, and we want to make sure that they can continue to do that.” 

As for us regular players, Quake Champions will release in beta in 2017 with an initial roster of 12 champions. Then, throughout the year, more champions will be added. Beyond that, many of the details are still to be decided. It’s not yet clear whether Quake Champions will have account-based levelling or specific champion unlocks, although it does sound as if some form of progression system is planned. “We’re still working on the exact details,” Willits says. “Right now, we’re focused on making sure it’s fun, but we want people to be engaged over a long time. We want them to feel connected to their champion.” 

The same is true of the pricing plan. “I know you guys hear this from every person that does a game,” says Willits, correctly. “We want to get a lot of people, but we want to give people something they can buy and be happy with. So what do we do? We’re trying to work that out, but our goal is to get as many people in as we can and make everyone happy!” Asked if that’s an elegant way of saying Quake Champions won’t be free-to-play, Willits refuses to be pinned down. “I’m definitely not saying definitely nothing,” he says, “but I can definitely say it’s a really hard problem, and so for us we’re trying to figure out exactly what people want more of and how they perceive it. Quake Live was free to play since 2008, so we have the flexibility to do something, but we really don’t know yet. I’m not even trying to be cagey! It’s not like we know and just aren’t trying to tell anybody. We don’t know and we’re still trying to figure this out.” 

I leave QuakeCon suitably intrigued (and happy to be out of the sweltering Texas heat), but not yet fully persuaded. id Software needs to get a lot of things right if the studio is to successfully merge two multiplayer FPS styles and keep Quake fans happy. Nevertheless, I’m rooting for them to succeed, and I’m reassured by the energy and enthusiasm Willits clearly has for the task ahead. After all, he was right: there really isn’t a bad time for a Quake comeback.