Video Game Icon Quake Inducted into World Video Game Hall of Fame
reshaped the landscape of gaming: That's the straight-up truth when you realize Quake had finally made it to the World Video Game Hall of Fame in 2025, decades after its initial release. Frankly, it's a damn puzzling oversight that this groundbreaking FPS game wasn't already enshrined, considering Halo hopped in since 2017, and Quake, well, it was left out in the cold. What gives? Whatever the reason, it's history now, and Quake took its rightful place among the four Hall of Fame inductees for 2025.
As the Hall of Fame page explains, Quake took first-person shooting games to a whole new level, ditching the keyboard for the mighty mouse, a move that might seem trivial now but revolutionized gaming back in the days when the mouse was an unfamiliar, alien accessory.
Quake was more than just a technological leap over Doom, its trailblazing predecessor (which, by the way, is already in the Hall). This game was a veritable game-changer, boasting extended mod support, server-client architecture that modernized online gaming, and the blueprint for esports as we know it.
"Quake's code is a literal legacy," the Hall of Fame wrote, and they ain't kidding. The Quake Engine Family Tree, as it's known, boasts dozens of interconnecting branches, linking several prominent IPs like Heretic, Hexen, Doom, Call of Duty, and even more.
Simply put, Quake has made its mark in nearly every category a game can influence, and it's rare for a game's code to continue to show up in modern titles, over two decades after its release. It's a testament to the power and enduring legacy of this iconic game.
A pretty chuffed-up John Romero, one of Quake's co-creators, couldn't help but gush about the induction, calling it a "huge honor."
Quake was joined in the World Video Game Hall of Fame class of 2025 by the 1981 arcade sensation Defender, the N64 shooter GoldenEye 007, and the virtual pet Tamagotchi.
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Andy ChalkWith a lifelong passion for gaming on PCs, Andy has been slaying digital demons since the early days of text-based adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there, he progressed to the golden era of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, learned the art of PC building, and found his loves in RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. With over a decade of writing gaming news under his belt, Andy joined the elite ranks of PC Gamer in 2014, covering the ins and outs of the gaming industry, from the latest game releases to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and an occasional Henry Cavill sighting.
- The World Video Game Hall of Fame inductees for 2025 included Quake, a groundbreaking first-person shooter (FPS) game that revolutionized gaming with the use of the mouse and set the blueprint for esports.
- Quake's code, known as the Quake Engine Family Tree, has been influential in numerous prominent IPs such as Heretic, Hexen, Doom, Call of Duty, and more.
- Alongside Quake, the Hall of Fame class of 2025 also included Defender, an arcade sensation from 1981, GoldenEye 007 for the N64, and the virtual pet Tamagotchi.
- In a statement, Quake's co-creator John Romero called being inducted into the Hall of Fame a "huge honor".
- The latest advancements in gaming technology and entertainment have been covered extensively by PC Gamer, featuring news, reviews, and deals on the hottest releases, top-tier FPS games, grand RPG adventures, cooperative gaming, and more.
- Since its initial release, Quake has made its mark in nearly every category a game can influence, and its code can still be found in modern titles, over two decades later.
- With a deep appreciation for gaming on PCs, Andy Chalk, a writer for PC Gamer, has been writing gaming news for over a decade, covering the latest game releases, legal disputes, esports, and more, including the induction of Quake into the World Video Game Hall of Fame in 2025.
