Quake 30: Q30 Deathmatch Jam Adds 22 Brand-New Deathmatch Arenas
Quake is turning 30, and the longtime shooter’s community is marking the milestone with a fresh batch of multiplayer content: a new Deathmatch Jam delivering 22 newly built arenas for players to fight through.
Q30 Deathmatch Jam brings 22 new arenas
The 30th anniversary celebrations span the whole year, but the latest drop is the Q30 Deathmatch Jam. Organized by map creators Annihilazor and Infiniti, the package includes 22 Deathmatch maps built specifically for classic Quake, expanding the game’s long-running multiplayer scene with everything from gothic strongholds to futuristic combat spaces.
Locations also include the darker “The Filth Pit,” an industrial-themed channel setting. The jam wasn’t limited to the organizers either—other well-known contributors took part, including Mazu and Makkon, who collaborated on a map called “Overflow.”
Supported with multiple Quake source ports
Players don’t have to rely on a single setup. The new maps can be used with several modern Quake source ports, including Ironwail, Netquake, and Kex—where Kex also appears in the official Quake remaster.
For offline play, the collection can be copied into the Quake installation folder as a standalone mod and launched from the console. For online matches, the process differs: users running games through Netquake or Quakeworld need to move additional files—such as loc files and skyboxes—into the appropriate multiplayer directories.
Other 30th-anniversary Quake projects also landed this year
The Deathmatch Jam isn’t the only community effort tied to Quake’s birthday. Earlier in the year, the Quake Brutalist Jam 3 launched as a large modification featuring heavy, concrete-heavy structures that can nearly feel like a separate shooter in its own right.
Meanwhile, on the Quakecon stage, id Software appeared alongside MachineGames to share a new Quake episode titled “Dawn of the Machine,” adding another layer to the year’s anniversary output.
