Fortunately, another one of the oldest and biggest gaming conventions in the U.S. is coming back to life.
QuakeCon, the annual gathering of gamers and designers that offers some of the first looks at games by local developers such as id Software, Bethesda and other ZeniMax Media studios, announced that it will return to its live and in-person format after three long years of digital hell.
“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,” says iD Software studio chief Marty Stratton in a released statement. “For our first year back, QuakeCon 2023 is focusing on the fan favorite [Bring Your Own Computer] and the players that made QuakeCon the best gaming gathering for more than 25 years."
Attendees of 2019's QuakeCon gathering at the Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine got a first look at DOOM Eternal before its release later in the year.
Brian Maschino
The last three QuakeCons, which are usually held sometime in August, were virtual-only events starting in 2020 when the coronavirus made in-person planning impossible. That all changes on Aug. 10–13 when the gaming and computer convention sets up its stages and booths at the Gaylord Texan resort in Grapevine, according to the con's official website.
The event will still be a little scaled down compared to years when a global pandemic wasn't hanging over the world's head. It will be "ticketed-only" for BYOC guests, who will need to registered ahead of time. This year's con also won't have an exhibit hall or general admission, so if you don't have a high-powered computer you can lug to the convention floor, then you'll have to settle for the streaming announcements and presentations.
However, some other QuakeCon staples will return. There's the Tabletop Village for board gamers, a QuakeCon Finals Party and the finale of this year's Quake World Championships featuring id Software and Bethesda's esports first-person shooter (FPS) Quake Champions. The announcement didn't explicitly state this, but we're hoping to see the return of QuakeCon's Dirty Keyboard Contest (where contestants get rewarded for their unclean keyboards, crumbs and all).
It may be scaled down this year, but at least QuakeCon is making a comeback, unlike E3, and it harkens back to the first very QuakeCon in 1996. Id Software had just released its gritty, medieval FPS Quake, and some players who wanted to test out the game together over a local area network booked a meeting room at a La Quinta Inn in Garland. The fans who organized the gathering thought that only a couple of people would show up, but around 30 gamers appeared with their computers along with some of the game's chief designers — such as DOOM co-creator John Romero.
Fans kept organizing and returning year after year to play the newest games from id Software, tripling its guest population almost every year. The last in-person QuakeCon, held at the Gaylord Texan in 2019, was dubbed "The Year of DOOM" in honor of DOOM's 25th anniversary, and the new DOOM Eternal game, scheduled to be released later that year, attracted thousands of attendees.
