Xbox fans think a classic '90s shooter could be returning after trademark filing
A new trademark registered by one of Microsoft’s gaming subsidiaries has Xbox fans thinking that an iconic shooter from the 90s could be set for a major return.
As spotted by X user bogorad222, ZeniMax has filed a trademark application for Quake. Most notably, this is not a renewal of the existing trademark, but instead a filing of something brand new.
Quake was a hugely popular first-person shooter series in the 90s that delivered high-octane multiplayer action with fast movement speed and twitch-shooting mechanics. Several of the games had highly-regarded single-player campaigns too with the titles becoming a huge phenomenon on PC – particularly among the LAN community.
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The Quake series has had a bit of a rocky time in more recent years with it essentially put on the backburner by franchise owner ZeniMax. The last game in the series to release was Quake Champions back in 2017, which introduced hero classes and abilities to the format.
However, Quake Champions failed to find a meaningful audience. Although the servers remain active, it’s no longer receiving content updates and has a peak playership of around 400 users per day on Steam.
Meanwhile, Nvidia has been breathing new life into the older titles by essentially remastering them with the use of RTX raytracing technology. Although not a brand new release by any stretch of the imagination, it’s the closest fans have gotten to new Quake content in a while.
This latest trademark registration has given fans renewed hope that something might be on the horizon, though. ZeniMax’s development teams at id Software and MachineGames have done a fantastic job of breathing new life into classic FPS games like DOOM and Wolfenstein - could it now be the turn of Quake?
“I'd be delighted over a new Quake game that goes back to the original's gothic horror Lovecraftian story and setting,” writes one Reddit user welcoming the news. However, they remain skeptical that this will be the case, elaborating: “So I expect it to be a colorful extraction shooter instead.”
Another gamer feels the same way, saying: “I can't wait for the Quake extraction shooter nobody asked for.”
Others are more positive, though. “Would make sense now that they have revived Doom to give Quake the same treatment,” a comment reads.
Xbox is yet to announce anything related to Quake officially. It did, however, recently provide more details on its next console, indicating that it will not only play Xbox games but PC ones too.