Bethesda Softworks has announced that QuakeCon will return to in-person action in 2023, following three years of being online-only due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
id Software CEO Marty Stratton stated, “QuakeCon is our favorite event of the year, and we can’t wait to see our extraordinary QuakeCon community in person again, celebrate games, and frag all weekend with thousands of friends.” “For our first year return, QuakeCon 2023 will emphasize the fan-favorite BYOC and the players who have made QuakeCon the premier gaming convention for over 25 years.”
Bring your own computer and join a massive, nonstop LAN party that runs throughout the entire event. The LAN is notable not only for its enormous size—thousands of PCs at once—but also for the impressive array of case mods(opens in new tab) that are always on display.
Only BYOC LAN attendees can attend this year.
In previous years, general admission to QuakeCon was free, while BYOC participants were required to purchase a ticket. For 2023, however, Bethesda is focusing solely on the LAN and eliminating the exhibit hall and general admission: QuakeCon 2023 “will be a ticketed event with admission restricted to pre-registered BYOC visitors,” the company said.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which caused over 1.1 million fatalities in the United States alone, QuakeCon, like most other major gaming conventions, has decided to go online-only for 2020-2022. With the daily mortality toll now below 300, as reported by the CDC, the US government recently announced that the Covid-19 “public health emergency” will terminate on May 11.
Despite the primary concentration on the BYOC mega-LAN, QuakeCon 2023 will also feature community events, tabletop games, the QuakeCon Finals Celebration, and the Quake World Championships. A complete schedule will be released “soon.”