QuakeCon 2022 will once again be a virtual event and will take place from August 18 to August 20.
QuakeCon is an annual fan convention that celebrates id Software and Bethesda Softworks’ video game franchises. Like last year, the event will be digital-only, which means no in-person convention and no BYOC, which stands for bring your own computer LAN party. The event will likely be streamed on Twitch.
In a statement published on Bethesda’s QuakeCon page on April 13, the company said while this year’s event will be digital-only, they are still committed to bringing QuakeCon as an in-person event in 2023. This is not the first time in the convention’s history that QuakeCon has had to be a remote event, as QuakeCon 2020 and QuakeCon and 2021 were both online-only events in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Like you, we’re disappointed to not return to Dallas this year,” Bethesda said. “An event of this size requires months of planning, and in this case, we had to make decisions when there was still too much uncertainty to commit to successfully executing an in-person QuakeCon.” This year’s event will feature live-streaming programming, online meetups, giveaways, charity opportunities, and a virtual BYOC party. Bethesda announced that more details regarding this year’s QuakeCon will be coming this June.
Bethesda Softworks’ confirmed lineup includes Redfall, the open-world vampire-themed shooter from Arkane Austin, and Starfield, the space-exploration role-playing game from Bethesda Game Studios. id Software is reportedly working on a “long-running iconic action FPS,” which could mean anything from a new Doom, Quake, to a new Hovertank 3D. QuakeCon has had a reputation for being the “Woodstock of gaming” and a “week of peace, love, and rockets!” The origin of QuakeCon can be traced back to a group of people on the EFnet IRC network on channel #quake, which was the original name for the event.
As various regular visitors to the channel began expressing a desire to meet and game together in person, Jim Enson, a gamer from the Dallas, Texas area with ties to the local Dallas-area gaming community, and Yossarian Holmberg from Waterloo, came up with the idea of assembling at a hotel. This quickly evolved into #quakecon and once enough people attended, the event was renamed QuakeCon, which is what we know it as today. The event has also been dependent on volunteers historically. There has been a mix of champions throughout the years, but most of them have been from the United States.
