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Massive Quake Champions Update Adds New Champion This Week

Quake Champions will receive one of its biggest updates ever.

Chris Jarrard

December 11, 2017 10:05 AM

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Bethesda’s Quake Champions has been progressing nicely since its arrival on Steam Early Access back in August. The shooter will be receiving a big time update this week that includes a new champion, duel map, ranked play, and the introduction of leaderboards. While access to Quake Champions currently costs $30, the game is expected to offer a free to play option once it graduates from Steam Early Access into its official release.

For those who have already jumped into fight, you can expect the new update to hit this Thursday, December 14. The full rundown of what to expect from the update has been detailed by Bethesda and is as follows:

• NEW CHAMPION – Keel is Back! Quake 3 Arena’s resurrected war machine Keel will join the roster of heroes next week, bringing a Grenade Swarm active ability that allows him launch a barrage of grenades and the Stockpile passive ability, which reduces the cooldown on Grenade Swarm with every ammo box he picks up. Keel will be free for players who own the full Champions Pack and available for purchase using Platinum via the in-game store for everyone else.
• NEW DUEL MAP – Vale of Pnath – Duel mode’s pure test of skill has ignited competition in Early Access, and next week players will get another arena dedicated to 1v1 and 2v2. Vale of Pnath is a wickedly vertical shrine to the Elder God Ithagnal built atop treacherous acid-filled caverns. This new map is free for all players of the game – get in there and face off with your friends!
• RANKED PLAY AND LEADERBOARDS – Quake Champions is the most intense FPS competition on any platform, and now Early Access players will be able to take their skills to the next level and easily see where they rank against the best in the world.
• HOLIDAY CELEBRATION – Celebrate the holidays with specially themed items including animated Champion shaders and festive weapons shaders, holiday decorations on Burial Chamber and Corrupted Keep, holiday hat vanities for Champions, and limited edition profile icons and nameplates.
• CROSSHAIR CUSTOMIZATION – One of the most requested features from the community will go live with the December update, allowing players to choose from 40 different crosshair options and use a slider to select the color of their choice

Bethesda also whipped up a new story trailer for the newest champion, Keel, that you can check out below. Quake diehards or folks who just enjoy great writing must check out Shacknews writer David Craddock’s franchise feature Rocket Jump: Quake and the Golden Age of FIrst-Person Shooters. Everything you ever wanted to know about the franchise or the team behind its creation is contained within this excellent feature.

Chris Jarrard

Contributing Tech Editor

Chris Jarrard likes playing games, crankin' tunes, and looking for fights on obscure online message boards. He understands that breakfast food is the only true food. Don't @ him.