Bethesda this morning announced that this year’s QuakeCon, which would have been the 25th anniversary of the event, has officially been cancelled over the COVID-19 pandemic.
The decision seems easy in retrospect, but with the show scheduled from August 6-9 there was still some hope that the show could go on. It was set to be the 25th anniversary of the show, and the 24th anniversary of Quake itself, stoking hopes that id’s classic shooter would be finally getting a proper remaster or reboot the way DOOM did.
But with the pandemic in the United States worsening, and the challenges of organising a physical event in today’s environment, Bethesda made the call to shut the show down for 2020. “While we don’t know what the state of the pandemic will be this August, we do know it will not be possible to complete the work and planning with partners, vendors, volunteers, and others that is required to make QuakeCon a success,” Bethesda said in a statement.
The full note on Twitter, which you can read below, says Bethesda had been trying to find solutions to keep QuakeCon going over “recent weeks”. “We look forward to the return of this amazing event next year,” they said.
An update on QuakeCon 2020: pic.twitter.com/1FYUauI7PY
— QuakeCon (@QuakeCon) March 31, 2020
QuakeCon every year also played host to the finals for Bethesda’s various multiplayer games, including Quake Champions. The official Twitter account for Quake Champions also announced this morning that their Quake Pro League Stage 3 finals would be held online, with no decision made on the direction of the Stage 4 finals for now.
Due to the evolving health crisis and the cancellation of Quakecon 2020, the Quake Pro League will host the Stage 3 Finals online. We will continue to monitor the situation and explore options for the Stage 4 Finals. #StaySafe
— Quake Champions (@Quake) March 31, 2020
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