Quake reached its 30th anniversary this year, matching the milestone of QuakeCon, the LAN event that developed alongside the game. Anniversaries of this kind typically involve a storefront discount and retrospective coverage. Instead, Quake players received two distinct collections of new material within a short period. One arrived through an official release from id Software. The other emerged through an unusual path involving a used computer.

Dawn of the Machine Expansion for the Original Quake

During the opening ceremony at QuakeCon, id Software and MachineGames made Dawn of the Machine available as a free expansion for the 1996 Quake. MachineGames, the Swedish studio known for the recent Wolfenstein titles and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, had already created two earlier Quake episodes.

The expansion delivers 19 new maps arranged as one continuous campaign. It also adds a soundtrack composed by a MachineGames level designer, a new deathmatch map, and a collection of unused assets from Quake’s initial development period.

Players control Ranger, the original silent marine, who remains trapped inside an illusory dimension in which time repeatedly folds back on itself. The structure therefore relies on looping runs. Runes gathered during each loop open routes that stayed closed on earlier attempts. Health and ammo upgrades persist across loops. Completing the campaign requires locating and destroying an entity called the Nightmare Machine.

Classic Quake enemies receive revised behavior to maintain interest across repeated playthroughs. The Rocket Ogre, Demo Dog, and Blood Shambler all act differently from their original versions. Supporting weapons drawn from prior Quake expansions include the Super Axe, which generates lightning after successive hits, and the Laser Cannon, whose projectiles bounce off surfaces.

Anyone who owns Quake receives the expansion at no cost on Steam, Xbox, PlayStation, Game Pass, and Switch. Owners on GOG and the Epic Games Store do not yet have access.

Recovered Alpha of Quake 4 Expansion The Awakening

A second Quake-related release appeared outside commercial storefronts. It involves Quake 4, the 2005 sequel developed by Raven Software. In that game, players take the role of Marine Corporal Matthew Kane during the conflict against the Strogg, the cyborg aliens first introduced in Quake II.

An expansion titled The Awakening had been planned for Quake 4 but was canceled after the game’s sales fell short of expectations. An unfinished alpha build of that expansion is now hosted on GitHub. Justin Marshall, a game-industry professional with 16 years of experience, located the files on the hard drive of a vintage PC he bought through Amazon. Earlier footage he shared displayed two new weapons and two new Strogg enemies.

Such finds frequently represent the sole surviving record of canceled projects. Running the alpha requires a retail copy of Quake 4.