Quake Champions is now free to play for everyone

Bethesda announced at QuakeCon today that id Software's arena shooter Quake Champions is now permanently free to play.

Quake Champions has been through many phases of release, and its life so far has been a little confusing. Bethesda said in August 2017 that it would be free to play when it went into full release, but for now it still remains in Early Access on Steam. It was also temporarily free to play on Steam but not the Bethesda store, in June. But now that's all cleared up: It's just free for everyone, forever.

The Champions Pack upgrade, which unlocks the full roster of current and future Champions, is also on sale on Steam for $20/£13/€20 until August 14.

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.