Xonotic
The fastest arena shooter on the planet. Completely free.
The PlayBound Bar
Xonotic clears all five: free with no monetisation, complete and polished, still maintained, an excellent arena shooter judged on its own merits, and open-source so it cannot be shut down.
Genuinely free
No trial, no paywalled campaign, no pay-to-win, no cosmetic treadmill. Free means free, forever.
Finished enough to enjoy
Playable and satisfying start to finish today — not a promising alpha you should check back on.
Actively maintained
A release or meaningful commit within the last twelve months. Someone is still looking after it.
Stands on its own merits
Good enough that we would recommend it even if it cost money. Free is not the reason it is here.
Won't disappear
Open-source or self-hostable, so no shutdown, delisting or licence expiry can take it away from you.
Xonotic last verified against the bar on . Read the full standard →
About Xonotic
The classic arena shooter is close to extinct as a commercial product. Quake Champions faded, Unreal Tournament was cancelled outright, and what remains of the genre on sale is mostly nostalgia re-releases. Xonotic is the genre's living continuation, and it is free.
This is a fast, movement-heavy first-person shooter in the direct lineage of Quake III Arena and Nexuiz before it. No loadouts, no unlock trees, no progression systems, no cosmetics — you spawn with a basic weapon and everything else is on the map. Weapon control, positioning and map knowledge are the entire game.
The movement deserves specific mention because it is the reason people stay. Xonotic's movement is faster and more technical than Quake III's, with its own mechanics to master, and the skill ceiling is genuinely high. Learning to chain jumps and maintain speed across a map takes real practice and feels excellent once it clicks. The engine runs at very high frame rates on modest hardware, which matters enormously in a game this fast.
Bot support is strong, which is more important than it sounds for a free shooter — you can practise properly offline and learn maps without depending on server population. Public servers are consistently populated, though numbers are far below commercial shooters, and there is an active competitive duel and team scene.
The caveats are honest ones. Player counts are modest, the art direction is functional rather than striking, and the technical movement is a genuine barrier for players used to modern grounded shooters. At around 1.1 GB it is a mid-sized install.
Why we picked it
Someone had to keep the arena shooter alive after the commercial industry abandoned it, and Xonotic did. The movement is deeper than the games it descends from, the frame rates are excellent on cheap hardware, and it has never asked anyone for money. If you miss the days before loadouts, this is where they went.
Who it's for
Great if you want
- Classic arena shooting with no loadouts or progression
- Technical movement with a very high skill ceiling
- Very high frame rates on modest hardware
- Offline practice against strong bots
- LAN parties — no accounts, no internet required
Look elsewhere if
- You want large player populations at any hour
- You prefer grounded modern shooters to fast strafe-jumping
- You want progression, unlocks or cosmetics as motivation
- You care about striking art direction over function
Features
System Requirements
Minimum
2 GHz CPU · 2 GB RAM · OpenGL 2.0 GPU · 2 GB storage
Recommended
3 GHz quad-core CPU · 8 GB RAM · GTX 1050 or better · 4 GB storage
Frequently asked questions about Xonotic
Is Xonotic free?
Yes, entirely. Xonotic is open-source under GPL-2.0 with no purchases, battle passes, cosmetics or advertising of any kind.
Is Xonotic like Quake?
Yes, directly. Xonotic descends from the Quake III Arena tradition via Nexuiz, with no loadouts, map-based weapon pickups and movement-centric play. Its movement is faster and somewhat more technical than Quake III's.
Does Xonotic have bots?
Yes, and they are good enough for genuine practice. You can learn maps and weapon timings entirely offline, which makes the game viable regardless of server population.
How many players does Xonotic have?
Public servers are consistently populated but numbers are modest compared with commercial shooters. Live server and player counts are shown on the Xonotic servers page.
Will Xonotic run on an old computer?
Yes, very well. The engine is efficient and reaches high frame rates on hardware that struggles with modern shooters, which matters in a game this fast.
