Posted in: Games, Video Games | Tagged: bethesda, Freeimum, Quake, Quake Champions

'Quake Champions' Is Basically Going To Be A Freemium Title

Published Sun, 12 Mar 2017 09:45:53 -0500

Freeimum games are one of the most dreadful things about modern gaming, right up there with DLC needed to complete a game and stream snipers. The idea that you have to chuck money at a company to actually play the game beyond a basic level is crap, but it's made developers of mobile games tons of cash for people who need to progress. Now, one of the longest recognized names in FPS is about to become it's own kind of Freeimum.

As reported by Polygon yesterday, Quake Champions will be free to play online when it's released, but you'll only be able to play as one character: the Ranger class. Any plans you may have to play as another character will cost you. The move is intended to entice old and new fans into the game without forcing them to pay for it upfront. But if you wish to branch out beyond the basics, you'll need to pony up some cash to unlock other characters with various weapons and abilities. While there's no official gameplay to speak of, it stands to reason that the Ranger will be an evenly-balanced character with no discernible traits. Creative director Tim Willits went into detail with Polygon.

"At its core, it's a free-to-play game," Willits said, "with the option to buy the Champion Pack and just get in and play with all the Champions. There are a number of Quake players that just want to play their Quake, right? And they are familiar with the business model of our previous games, and they are totally fine. 'I want to buy the game. I want to start playing. I want to have access to all the Champions. But then we also understand that we want to get as many people into the game as possible, especially outside of North America and Western Europe, where we have a massive fan base. So we want to have the flexibility to have a free-to-play option for those people."

The maps and brackets will apparently stay the same, so the playing field is going to be even at the start. But there was no indication given that it would stay that way after the game launches, as we're sure new stages and unlockables will be added later. We hope to have a better idea on the game itself once the closed beta kicks off this year.

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