Arena speed, champion abilities, and no room to blink.
That One Thing
Champion abilities add just enough asymmetry to make classic rocket-jump arena combat feel dangerous again.
Quake Champions is the modern revival of the foundational arena first-person shooter genre, developed by id Software in conjunction with Saber Interactive. Carrying forward the DNA of Quake III Arena and Quake Live, the game centers around blisteringly fast movement, pinpoint weapon accuracy, and map control. It introduces a roster of 16 distinct Champions—ranging from series icons like Ranger, Visor, and Doom Slayer to guest characters like B.J. Blazkowicz—each equipped with tailored active abilities and movement styles like crouch sliding, air control, and rocket jumping.
At the core of the combat loop is Quake's legendary Holy Trinity of weaponry: the Rocket Launcher for area denial and aerial juggles, the Lightning Gun for close-to-mid-range tracking, and the Railgun for long-range hitscan punishment. Complementing these are the Super Shotgun, Heavy Machinegun, Tri-bolt, and Plasma Gun. Weapons spawn on fixed timers across intricately balanced gothic, elder god, and industrial arenas, requiring players to control mega health, heavy armor, and power-ups like Quad Damage and Protection.
Game modes span casual and competitive playstyles. Casual queues feature classic Deathmatch, 4v4 Team Deathmatch, Instagib, Unholy Trinity (infinite ammo with rockets, rail, and lightning only), and Clan Arena. For competitive purists, the ranked 1v1 Duel ladder tests raw mechanical aim, spatial awareness, and item timing in intense multi-round showdowns.
The game features dedicated global servers with modern netcode, custom lobby hosting, extensive crosshair and FOV customization, and comprehensive stats tracking. Crossplay between Steam and PC Game Pass ensures healthy matchmaking pools across North America, Europe, and international regions.
Quake Champions remains the most accessible modern gateway into pure, uncompromised arena FPS mechanics: there is no loadout advantage, no sprint penalty, and no bloom—only mechanical skill, speed, and map intelligence.
We added Quake Champions because it represents the highest mechanical skill ceiling in competitive first-person shooters. At a time when modern shooters favor automated aim assist, sprint fatigue, and tactical low-mobility positioning, Quake Champions celebrates raw mechanical mastery, rocket jumping acrobatics, and tactical item control—all in a completely free-to-play package.
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Minimum
Intel i5-3570 · 8 GB RAM · GTX 760 · 45 GB storage
Recommended
i7 · 16 GB RAM · GTX 1060+ · SSD
Yes. Quake Champions is released under Free to Play and costs nothing to download or play.
About 45.0 GB. The minimum system requirements are Intel i5-3570 · 8 GB RAM · GTX 760 · 45 GB storage.
Windows, Linux. It is also Steam Deck compatible.
No account is required to download or play.
Yes. Quake Champions supports up to 8 players. Its multiplayer runs through the game's own online service or menus, so PlayBound Connect parties and PlayBound dedicated servers are not available for it. There is no subscription and no paid multiplayer tier.
Community
Official Discord
Talk directly with the Quake Champions community.
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PlayBound Discord
Chat with PlayBound players in #quake-champions.
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This game has no native or PlayBound-enhanced controller support yet.
Default bindings for every input method Quake Champions supports. These are the game's own defaults — anything you have remapped will differ.
Default keyboard and mouse bindings.
Every key is rebindable in the game's options.
| Action | Default input |
|---|---|
| Move | W, A, S, D |
| Jump | Space |
| Crouch / slide | Left Ctrl |
| Action | Default input |
|---|---|
| Fire | Left Mouse |
| Alt-fire / zoom | Right Mouse |
| Champion ability | Q, E, F |
| Weapons | 1–9 |
| Action | Default input |
|---|---|
| Scoreboard | Tab |
Source: Quake Wiki