During QuakeCon 2023, executive producer Marty Stratton and game director Hugo Martin announced that the 1997 shooter Quake 2 had been ported to modern consoles with updated graphics, cross-play, and much more.
Quake 2 will still have all of its original features, such as the single-player campaign, expansions that include Mission Pack: The Reckoning and Mission Pack: Ground Zero, multiplayer maps, and the soundtrack by Sonic Mayhem, along with the original Nintendo 64 port. On top of that, Quake 2 will have widescreen support, online cross-play co-op/multiplayer with couch co-op/multiplayer, a new single-player expansion, and performance updates.
Those playing on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 can play at 60fps 1080p, while Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 players can play it in 4K at 120fps. PlayStation 4 players can play in 4K if using a PS4 Pro. Both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 users will have the option to enable gyroscopic controls. This allows them to use motion aiming to adjust the control sticks while playing.
The latest single-player expansion, Call of the Machine, was developed by Wolfenstein: The New Colossus developer MachineGames. Multiplayer will feature cross-play support with the following modes: Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and Capture the Flag. All of these modes can be played locally or online with 16 players. Players who don’t have enough people for a full lobby can use bots to fill in the open slots.
Quake 2 is available on Xbox Game Pass, but it’s also available on other platforms such as PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch. The game is a free upgrade for existing Quake 2 owners on Steam. There will be physical versions available via Limited Run Games, as well.