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Xbox wants you to test Quake 4 on PC – wait, what?

Could a Quake 4 Game Pass release be coming? Well, that's the only thing that makes sense, because Xbox is holding a Quake 4 Insider preview for some reason

The Quake logo stands proud attached to the Quake 4 Game Pass release - right?

QuakeCon 2022 kicks off in August and it’s sure to bring all manner of fun announcements, and hopefully something to match the Quake remaster of 2021. It’s not the most beloved FPS game, but it looks like a Quake 4 Game Pass release might be on the cards – that’s the only thing that makes sense, as Xbox Insider wants players “to preview Quake 4.”

Quake 4 was developed by Raven Software and released in 2005, including digitally on a fledgling Steam – where it has remained ever since. It’s also readily available on GOG. And yet, for some reason, Xbox wants people to “preview” this 17-year-old game.

Just to make things more confusing, multiplayer game Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory is also available to preview – which was recently made free on Steam. We’d suggest these games were being made backward-compatible for Xbox consoles, except Microsoft said it wasn’t doing that anymore – and this is definitely the PC version of Quake 4.

It doesn’t appear to be a special remaster or any sort of special update, although it’s reported that Quake 4 now runs natively in higher resolutions without file tweaking. A Game Pass release seems the most logical reason for Quake 4, although we’re still not sure why Xbox needed to preview a 17-year-old Doom 3 engine game.

Go install the Xbox Insider Hub through the Microsoft Store if you’re interested in giving Quake 4 a go, for free. How Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory fits into this is anyone’s guess, however.

With id Software basically finished with Doom Eternal now, it’s now working on “a long-running iconic action FPS” – could it be Quake 5?