The reason for this approach is simple, he said. The gaming world has changed since the launch of the original Quake in 1996. It’s gotten bigger. There are more players from more parts of the world than ever before. Some markets simply have different expectations of how - or if - they pay for their games. By making Quake Champions both free and for-pay, his team can get it in front of as many players as possible.

Both for-pay and free-to-play players will share the same maps, and compete in the same brackets, Willits said. The only difference will be how they access Champions other than Ranger.

Players who buy the Champion Pack — the de-facto full-price version of the game — will get Ranger and all the other Champions that the game launches with. Everyone else will be able to pay the in-game currency, called favor, to play other Champions for a finite period of time.