During the start of the online QuakeCon, Bethesda revealed that if their donation drive reached or surpassed $20,000 they would makeQuake IIIfree on theBethesda.netLauncher. And as of today, the publisher has reached their intended goal and posted the following tweet in celebration:
It according to other users that you have to log on to the launcher during QuakeCon in order to redeem the free copy of QuakeIII.However, you may still donate to the charity drive andgive funds to charitiessuch as UNICEF, Direct Relief, and The Trevor Project. For fans that want QuakeCon 2020 themed merch, Bethesda will sell clothing, a mousepad, and pin themed after the event.
The first panel to kick off the25th anniversary of QuakeConwas Bethesdaâs Pete Hines where he welcomes viewers to the virtual convention. From there, there were panels on games likeDoom Eternal,Fallout 76, andThe Elder Scrolls Online. Besides those events were free game skin giveaways for titles likeDoom Eternal,Quake Champions, andFallout 76.
Like other major gaming events in the world,QuakeCon 2020 had to be canceleddue to COVID-19. That being said, the event has carried on through this upcoming online event. Bethesda released an official statement concerning the switch of QuakeCon to be fully online. “Because the world is a different place right now, QuakeCon is going to be different this year too, but the beating heart of QuakeCon remains strong. Itâs still a celebration of our amazing communities, and itâs still about coming together to share our love of games. Because we canât be together in person, weâre hosting three straight days of streams focusing on games, the people who make them, and the people who love them.”
Other major gaming conventions to be canceled or postponed includeGDC,Gamescom, andE3 2020. These cancellations and postponements have caused publishers like EA and Ubisoft to replace their E3 conferences with their own digital events that happened inmid-Juneandearly-Julyrespectively.
