When it comes to remastered versions of retro first-person shooters, Microsoft-owned publisher Bethesda seems willing to throw PlayStation a bone. And so it sounds like, according to reliable rumourmonger billbil-kun, a remastered version of Quake 2 is imminent on PS5 and PS4 – in fact, it could drop as early as next week’s QuakeCon.
Rumours have been swirling for a little while, ever since a listing was spotted by Gematsu on the Korean ratings board. A report on Dealabs.com claims that it’s seen similar documentation from the USA’s ESRB and Europe’s PEGI, which points to a 10th August or 11th August release date. QuakeCon is set to get underway right around then, so it all lines up.
Bethesda’s actually done a really good job making id Software’s old-school output available on contemporary consoles, and the original Quake is already playable on both the PS5 and PS4. Of course, this won’t be the first version of Quake 2 to launch on a PlayStation platform: the game was originally ported to the PS1 in 1999, where it actually supported the PlayStation Mouse for a more authentic, PC-style experience.
[source dealabs.com]
Comments 50
I enjoyed the 1st quake remake, and I think I'll play this one too
I'll play it on pc though since quake 1 is best played on pc mouse & keyboard since it's too fast paced. And while quake 2 isn't as fast, I enjoyed playing it on pc more than on console.
I think I got quake 1 remaster for free on steam since I already bought the old quake 1 back then, I wonder if I'll get quake 2 remaster free too since I already bought that game on steam.
Quake Remastered is awesome so hopefully this will be more of the same. Looking forward to getting destroyed in some online matches haha
Well this is a weird one, I thought MS was disallowing any future Bethesda games on Playstation.
@theSpectre well these are older titles getting remastered so it might be an exception.
@anoyonmus @theSpectre “We’ll take other consoles on a case-by-case basis.”
That's what Phil Spencer told Bloomberg during the whole ZeniMax acquisition.
Loved Quake 2 on the PS1 - was one of my favourite games of that era actually. Very cool, very much enjoying all these PS1 games coming back onto my PS5.
With how large the PS5 audience is now (and growing), I think we will see some Bethesda titles popping up on PS5, if I am honest - especially remasters.
This was really fun on ps1
I love Quake 2 and I really hope Quake 4 is happening at some point. I still don't understand why it wasn't made backwards compatible on Xbox.
I imagine whatever zenimax online's new ip is will be on ps as well.
I think any major single player game will be exclusive. Probably includes both doom and wolfenstein even if there is a multiplayer mode.
Nice one will be grabbing this, hope gyro controls are included like the first quake 👍
@StrawberryTurtle I think there a situation that Elder Scroll 6 was going to be exclusive since they consider that a "mid-size" game, and they have divided games into three categories: Niche, New IP/Uncertain audience, and Mass market audience. Niche and Mass market won't be exclusive, while New IP/Uncertain audience will be exclusive. Elder Scrolls 6, Redfall, and Starfield falls under New IP/Uncertain audience. But no platforms have been announced for ES6, and Sony was using that the reason for it be exclusive
EDIT: They consider Fallout 76 a niche game even tho it has a player base of 13 million.
@GamingFan4Lyf "All future Zenimax games will be Xbox exclusive." email from Phil Spencer in November 2020, revealed during the FTC trial.
I played quake 2 for hours on ps1. Mightily tempted
@anoyonmus Could be, it's just an odd choice. That being said, I'd love for every game to get updated. Game preservation is important. Now, please, give us Spider-Man 1 and 2 from PS1.
@theSpectre Well if this leak is accurate, that means "future ZeniMax games" applies to actual new games and doesn't include re-releases of old games.
🤷♂️
I own a Series X (and a PS5 and a Switch), so exclusive or not doesn't bother me. But I do hope this leak is accurate and everyone gets to enjoy this one.
@GamingFan4Lyf Fair point, I suppose. Personally, I think we may see a change in MS towards Playstation if Game Pass continues to be stagnant and the PS5 continues to crush Xbox sales. They'll reach a point where MS will stop supporting Xbox if Xbox isn't bringing in as much money.
The Quake remaster on PC is absolutely fantastic, so I'm hyped for the sequel to receive the same treatment
@theSpectre I think Microsoft is already kind of working on a pseudo "exit strategy" from the console market (hence the big publisher acquisitions). Maybe not at first, but I think Microsoft is definitely looking at a "Plan B".
I think Microsoft's hard stance on Bethesda was meant to be its ace in the hole to drive people to Game Pass and Xbox consoles. If Starfield doesn't do what Microsoft hopes it does, I see Microsoft going full-on third-party publisher.
Oh, I think Microsoft will still sell gaming hardware and call it an "Xbox", but I don't see it being custom hardware or anything. Microsoft will sell small form-factor gaming PC's.
Then again, maybe the upcoming influx of first-party games will be "on point" and move the needle in Microsoft's favor (similar to how PS3 moved the needle for Sony late in the generation).
I don't foresee Microsoft surpassing PlayStation this generation, but I could see it closing the gap with key releases that actually resonate with the broad gaming market.
Back on Topic: I wonder if RT will be an option for Quake II. I wonder if the RT technology in the consoles is enough to get like a 30fps framerate (or maybe even 60fps).
My Surface Book 2 can run Quake RTX at average of 45fps at 1080p (at like 25% resolution scale 480 x 270 natively) using FSR with RT on. My Surface Book 2 only has an Nvidia 1060 6GB.
So, I am sure a PS5 and Series X could do at least native 1080p/30 with path tracing on just solely on the fact there is actual RT hardware to utilize.
@GamingFan4Lyf I agree with that. I think Xbox's strategy has moved beyond the console and we already know they want Game Pass on Playstation and Nintendo. I don't see Sony allowing it unless MS were to agree to have native versions of the games.
@GamingFan4Lyf good points. Agreed.
You know, I’m not sure the dial is going to move so much to Microsoft late gen, simply because of the digitalisation of gaming libraries - next gen (after 2027/8 or so?), Sony will have dominated two generations where people have bought digital games since 2010: man, it is going to take some mighty moves for that to shift, and it is going to take a long while from now. And it’s not as if PlayStation have got complacent either, or will sit there and not respond?
Ultimately, I think Microsoft are entering the PC space now much more, and will downplay the console side of it. That will work well with them but essentially both PlayStation and Microsoft will be in different parts of the market.
One of my fondest gaming memories is playing the PS1 version multiplayer with my brothers and friends. Pretty sure it was the sole reason we owned a multitap.
@Bentleyma it has a wicked multiplayer - the split screen was excellent. I was deadly with the railgun.
@add286 Possibly. But if Fable, Perfect Dark, Hellblade, etc. etc. end up being absolute "must-haves" I can see at the very least people looking at the Series S (or even going "all out" for a Series X) as a secondary console just to play those games.
Maybe more people will just start shifting to PC - especially with Sony releasing games on PC - but that will also hit into Sony's console dominance in the future if more and more people shift over to PC just to get the best of all worlds (except Nintendo) - even at the cost of waiting.
The issue with PC is cost and convenience.
Great games drive sales - and even if Microsoft is a secondary or tertiary console, it's a sale.
The Switch is a prime example of that. I would probably bet most people here have a Switch as a secondary for Nintendo exclusives. It may not get played much, but it's there.
The next few years will be rather interesting. Sony's first-party output is seemingly barebones.
Hopefully the company has a few susprises to announce before years end, but Insomniac seems to be Sony's driving force right now where the other "heavy hitter" studios released their big games and are probably a few years off from seeing anything.
Microsoft is in a good position to catch some ground if the company can just get the games released in a timely manner.
@theSpectre so don't hold your breath that we are going to play this anytime soon and quake III arena is miles better especially with mouse and keyboard support, but this seems like meh to me tbh unless they add something new to the mix
I'm waiting for PS5 Pro to play this one
@GamingFan4Lyf yeah, it could be a possibility. But again, just think of how much money people have invested into the PlayStation eco-system over so many years? Personally, I would probably buy a PlayStation for that alone: access to old titles. And that audience will be humongous by the end of the gen: well over 200 million by the time the PS5 is done (which is like most of the console market). Catching up a little? Maybe. But the timing of Sony’s success has really helped them.
Microsoft could catch-up with good games but it won’t be ‘fable’ or ‘perfect dark’ et al, it will be ‘elder scrolls’ or blizzard-acti games (which a lot of people will buy on PC anyway). But the underlying sales figures of the consoles as it stands emphasise just what a big swing would have to occur to get ahead of PlayStation next gen. And the PlayStation games are likely coming mate, they are just being worked on and will be announced when ready. Sony are keeping their powder dry; that’s all. You don’t abandon strategies that your historical success is based on overnight.
Microsoft could become a secondary system - it is interesting but that’s probably not where they want to be at all. Sony do well because they appeal to casual gamers who only have time for one eco-system/console (players who play and like FIFA, call of duty, Genshin, rocket league etc). That’s what the acquisitions are about, getting that audience over to Microsoft as the place to play games (wherever that is console or a Microsoft PC platform). Sony are basically the Apple of gaming at the moment.
@theSpectre likely not a high profile project for microsoft to care enough about.
I don't think you will ever see Microsoft put Game Pass on Playstation purely because Sony will never allow it. Yes they'll continue to release games like this, and maybe some ABK titles depending on what Jim signed in the 10 year deal, but you won't see them put a full service on there, even if they wanted, Sony won't.
To be honest keep seeing a few mention about Microsoft going third party and binning the consoles off, and yes I could see that, but I really hope they don't. I'd love nothing more than all three competitors to carry on with hardware pushing each other with innovation and for our money. As much as I love Sony and Playstation, I hope we don't see a day where they are the sole console (Although I know Nintendo will be around)
@theSpectre we also had Jim Ryan say that they won't give Activision Blizzard PS6 dev kits. Microsoft also confirmed that Mojang didn't get any PS5 ones either. So looks like both PlayStation & Xbox versions of Minecraft suffer for it. Minecraft Dungeons & Legands were created by two different studios. So I guess the email about Bethesda future games could be the result of a similar problem.
@theSpectre case by case bases as was stated. Have to wait and see what games come in the future. I hope the rumors of a Quake reboot like the Doom reboot is true. If so i hope it hit’s Xbox/PC and PS5 so it has lots of players for online play.
@Czar_Khastik 1440P 350FPS. Haha
@IAmAshCohen17 Agreed. I don't even want to see it either. But it will ultimately depend on profits.
I mean, if Sony has that much of a lead were absolutely no one bothers with Microsoft hardware anymore, I just don't know how much Microsoft will wish to invest in the "traditional" console model.
In that case, Microsoft would make more money selling games and Game Pass PC subscriptions while also selling gaming PC's to support the ecosystem, but not invest in R&D for a custom console approach. The hook being that said Microsoft gaming PC's will play PC versions of PlayStation games.
Let's be honest, for all the "breeding competition" talk Micrsoft does, if the dollar signs point to simply "giving in" to the competition, Microsoft will cut its losses and make the money.
Niiiiice... I've never finished Quake 2, because of bug that always crashed game at certain point (some say it was copy protection). Even that I've played that "first" part of game for a hundered times.
I only ever played Quake 2 on N64 so it would be brilliant to play this on PS5
@Bentleyma
Ah the multitap... Straight back to quake and speed freaks growing up... God I feel old all of a sudden. Thanks for the nostalgia all the same
I also heard rumours of a Croc remake... Keep em coming, I say!
Oh sounds as great news and kind of Microsoft to release Quake 2 on PS5! Looking forward towords a potential annocement soon then.
@GamingFan4Lyf I've seen a 6700xt running in the low 40's at 1080p, so maybe with some optimisations the PS5 could do a locked 30fps. Sadly AMD and the consoles in particular have very limited RT capabilities.
I do enjoy this on PC, so it'll be interesting to see how the remake compares, though I may stick with the RT version as I have done witht he original Quake mod. Still it's good to see these games getting a new lease of life
@HonestHick Making Doom exclusive to one platform would be going against the very culture of Doom.
@theSpectre it certainly would be strange. I don’t see Doom being an exclusive. I see any new I.D game being exclusive. But not Doom. Never say never i suppose. So i could be wrong. 😊
Probably trying to cover some of that Starfield development cost.
@theSpectre Probably because it's a retro game, at best. Not a new IP.
@carlos82 Wow, for a GPU that's supposed to compete with the 3070, that's not great.
I looked at a benchmark and it seems like AMD is a little more than half as powerful as Nvidia in the RT department.
Where the 3070 in Quake II RTX got averaged about 80fps at 1080p, the 6700xt averaged about 45fps.
@theSpectre absolutely agreed. Toasters run OG Doom. Fridges run OG Doom. Calculators run OG Doom. I'm pretty sure at this point if you attached a monitor to me I'd run OG Doom. Doom is everywhere and should be everywhere.
Been waiting for a quake 3 arena remake, hopefully won't be long after this, absolutely brilliant game
@HonestHick Ah, a man of culture as well haha
@GamingFan4Lyf yeah its one of the main reasons I went with Nvidia, I enjoy these RT versions and mods for older games and their OGL support is more reliable for certain emulators. My 3070ti for example is much slower than a 6950xt which has a 30 to 35% lead in Cyberpunk, but at RT Ultra they basically run the same and with DLSS vs FSR the 3070ti is actually a bit quicker and had Nvidia given it more VRAM I suspect it would have a decent advantage
@theSpectre I think this IS Just what Phil Spencer Said, Legacy titles will be on other consoles, legacy as in legacy software.
This is great news, hopefully they do Unreal next. Also hope LRG do a physical copy of the game, like the did with Quake 1 remaster.
So the worst quake basically quake 3 arena was the best first game i ever played online on dreamcast
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