One of the longest-tenured esports is ending its professional league, but that doesn’t mean it’s the end for the esport. The Quake Pro League will not be renewed in 2024, according to a statement from the developers.
“We will continue to explore future opportunities for hosting competitions and will collaborate with community members and tournament organizations that are interested in hosting Quake events,” id Software said.
It appears that future competitions will be back but under different branding in the future. There’s no news on what will happen with the Quake World Championship either. The Quake Pro League ran for a mere four years and began its inaugural season in 2019.
Quake is a legacy sport, and in many ways, the godfather of first-person shooters as they exist today. The Red Annihilation, held in 1997, was won by Dennis “Thresh” Fong, who is widely considered the first official professional gamer in history by the Guinness Book of World Records. Despite this statesman status, Quake has fallen out of popularity with many modern gamers in preference for tactical shooters and other, more casual first-person shooters. It’s been replaced by titles like Counter-Strike, Call of Duty, VALORANT, and more.
No esport, nor game, deserves eternal popularity, nor the pole position among fans forever. There will always be an ebb and flow as more gamers and fans come into the esports fold. However, there should also be a place for every early esport in the pantheon of greats. Quake fits that category. Will it be on top again? Probably not. Should it still be around as a viable competitive title? Unarguably, yes. Quake will and should be around for decades to come, as long as the game is good, there will be people who play it, and people who play it competitively.
