What you need to know
- QuakeCon is an annual event hosted by ZeniMax Media since 1996.
- The last in-person QuakeCon event was held in 2019, with the 2020, 2021, and 2022 events being online-only due to organizational challenges and safety precautions caused by the pandemic.
- QuakeCon 2023 is officially confirmed to be an in-person event, and will be held from August 10 through Aug. 13, 2023.
- The physical event will primarily be a LAN party, while online programming will hold different panels like in the past few years.
If you’ve been hoping to see the return of in-person QuakeCon, we’ve got great news.
Bethesda Softworks shared (opens in new tab) on Monday that QuakeCon 2023 will arrive as an in-person event being held from August 10 through Aug. 13, 2023, the first in-person gathering for the event since 2019. The event’s physical presence will still be smaller than in many past years though, with a focus on a BYOC (Bring Your Own Computer) LAN Party.
There will also be a variety of online sessions streamed through Twitch for anyone that isn’t able to make it to QuakeCon’s physical gathering. In past years, where QuakeCon was limited to an online-only presence, these sessions have included a variety of panels like having Arkane Austin talk about Redfall, or seeing Quake Remastered announced and released.
“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 of 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.”
Drawings for the Elite registration packages open up on April 11, with regular ticket packages opening up for pre-registration on April 21, 2023. It’s important to note that due to the smaller focus of this QuakeCon’s physical presence, there will not be a general admission, just pre-registered BYOC attendees. The full schedule for QuakeCon 2023 will be available at a later date.
Windows Central’s take
QuakeCon has a ton of history, so it’s really cool that it’s coming back. I’m a little disappointed the in-person event is focused mainly around the BYOC LAN party, but it does make sense to keep the scale a bit smaller and make sure to get it right, considering that QuakeCon hasn’t had a physical presence in the last three years.
Personally, I’m most interested in what kind of panels will be announced. Bethesda Game Studios’ Starfield is slated to launch on Sep. 6, 2023, so something on that makes sense, but who knows what else could be in store.
