Quake Enters Gaming’s Hall of Fame—Decades Later

In a move that feels extremely overdue to many fans, Quake a game that has been praised for decades for its incredible influence on online multiplayer video games, has finally been inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame.

In 2025 the list of nominees included Age of Empires, Angry Birds, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Defender, Frogger, Goldeneye 007, Golden Tee, Harvest Moon, Mattel Football, NBA 2K, and Quake.

Originally released in 1996 by id Software, which was led by industry pioneers John Carmack and John Romero at the time. Quake was more than just a follow-up to Doom. It redefined what a first-person shooter could be.

The game's technical innovation was unmatched at the time: real-time 3D graphics, online multiplayer via client-server networking, and precision mouse-and-keyboard gameplay. It laid the groundwork for modern esports and created a blueprint that countless other games would follow.