Quake is an id Software first-person shooter series that debuted on MS-DOS on June 22, 1996 and helped shape the arena shooter subgenre.

Where did Quake come from?

The name first appeared as a scrapped RPG teased in Commander Keen in Invasion of the Vorticons, then got reused for id's 3D follow-up to Doom II.

What does Quake mean?

In the games, Quake is a hammer-wielding hero and the title of the franchise; in slang, Urban Dictionary lists 'quake' as a synonym for shook, meaning shocked or surprised.

How do you use Quake?

Solo play pushes through maze-like levels chasing four magic runes, while online play centers on deathmatch, Capture the Flag, and 1v1 duels.

Is Quake still popular?

The series still has an active modding scene and competitive circles, with Quake Champions standing as the most recent main entry since its 2016 reveal.

Quake

1996video game franchiseclassic

Published September 24, 2026

Quake is an id Software first-person shooter franchise that launched on MS-DOS on June 22, 19961. Built on John Carmack's fully 3D engine and scored by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, its fast arena play defined a whole subgenre and spawned Quake II, Quake III Arena, Quake Live, and Quake Champions1.

gaming video game music memes boss fight memes late 1990s memes esports memes

Overview

The first Quake drops players into gothic castle mazes hunting four magic runes to unlock a fight with the boss Shub-Niggurath, with a weapon set running from a nail gun to the signature rocket launcher1. Its dark, brown, medieval look was a hard turn from the sci-fi corridors of Doom II and from the Strogg war that Quake II would open with the next year1.

The series pushed further into online play with every release. Quake III Arena in December 1999 dropped single-player almost entirely for deathmatch, Capture the Flag, and 1v1 duels, and the same engine returned as free-to-play Quake Live in August 20104. Mod communities kept older titles alive with everything from CTF variants to the goofier Quake Rally full conversion2.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

MS-DOS (id Software)

Creator

id Software

Date

1996

The name Quake started as 'The Fight for Justice,' a scrapped side-scrolling RPG teased inside id Software's Commander Keen in Invasion of the Vorticons, in which a hammer-wielding hero named Quake fought for an anti-evil order called Justice3. When id revived the title for its post-Doom II follow-up, John Carmack's new fully 3D engine took longer than expected, and time pressure forced the team, level designer American McGee and future Age of Empires designer Sandy Petersen included, to drop the RPG plan for a Doom-style shooter. Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor signed on to compose the soundtrack, and the MS-DOS game shipped on June 22, 19961.

How It Spread

Two expansions filled out 1997, Scourge of Armagon from Hipnotic Interactive in February and Dissolution of Eternity from Rogue Entertainment in March. Quake II arrived on December 9, 1997 with Activision publishing and swapped medieval castles for a counter-invasion against the alien Strogg1. Quake III Arena followed on December 2, 1999, and after Raven Software's Quake 4 in 2005 and Splash Damage's Enemy Territory: Quake Wars in 2007, id and Bethesda unveiled Quake Champions at E3 on June 12, 20165.

The offline community grew alongside the games. QuakeCon started in August 1996 as an IRC meetup at a Best Western in Garland, Texas, run by fans from the EFNet #quake channel, before ZeniMax turned it into an official yearly convention2. A dedicated Quake wiki opened on March 16, 2006, and the r/quake subreddit went live on May 29, 2009, giving the series a stable community home well past each game's launch4.

Timeline

1999-12-02

Quake III Arena releases with a multiplayer-only focus and modes like CTF and 1v1 Tournament.

2005-10-18

Quake 4 released, developed by Raven Software as a Quake II follow-up.

2006-03-16

Dedicated Quake community wiki launched.

2009-05-29

R/quake subreddit created on Reddit.

2010-08-06

Quake Live released, later transitioning from free-to-play to a standalone title in 2014.

2016-06-12

Quake Champions announced at Bethesda's E3 conference, the first main entry since Quake 4.

How to Use This Meme

Single-player runs push through maze-like levels chasing four magic runes and finish at the boss Shub-Niggurath; multiplayer centers on deathmatch, Capture the Flag, and 1v1 tournament duels1. Longtime players often lean on Quake3-era slang like gl, hf, wp, and cya in chat, and colour text using the caret code system6.