QuakeCon is a yearly event organized by ZeniMax Media to celebrate and promote the important games and other projects of id Software and other companies owned by ZeniMax. The event includes a large, paid, bring-your-own-computer (BYOC) LAN party with a competitive tournament held every year in Dallas, Texas, USA. Named after id Software's game Quake, the event attracts thousands of gamers from around the world each year to honor the company's long history in gaming.

Volunteers are essential for organizing many parts of the event. QuakeCon has been known as the "Woodstock of gaming," with a week filled with "peace, love, and rockets."

The 25th QuakeCon was planned for August 2020 in Dallas, Texas, but was canceled by Bethesda Softworks and id Software on March 31, 2020, because it was hard to plan with companies that provide goods and displays. An online version of QuakeCon was announced in June 2020 to replace the live event. The events in 2021 and 2022 were also held online. The live event returned from August 10 to 13, 2023, in Grapevine, Texas.

History

QuakeCon began with a group of people on the EFnet IRC network in the #quake channel. As regular visitors to the channel wanted to meet and play games together in person, Jim "H2H" Elson, a gamer from the Dallas area with connections to the local gaming community, and Yossarian "yossman" Holmberg, a computer consultant from Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, suggested holding the event at a hotel. The original name was "#quakecon," but it soon became "QuakeCon." Mr. Elson organized most of the event for the first two years. As more people attended each year, volunteers formed teams to help with setup, troubleshooting, and tearing down the event's equipment and network.

The first event took place in August 1996 at a conference room in the La Quinta Inn in Garland, Texas. The 1,250-square-foot venue had about 40 attendees. People who brought their computers set up a small, informal network in a hotel meeting room, mostly playing Quake I and Doom and testing deathmatch skills. A small tournament was held, with winners receiving T-shirts as prizes. The highlight of the event was when the entire id Software team unexpectedly visited on the last day. John Carmack, the lead programmer for Doom and Quake, spoke with attendees for 30–45 minutes on the hotel's porch. Some ideas from that conversation later appeared in Quake's public releases. This "Carmack's Talk" became an annual keynote speech until 2013.

QuakeCon 1997 had about 650 attendees at the Holiday Inn in Plano, Texas. It was covered by many Internet and broadcast media outlets and was partially sponsored by id Software and Activision.

QuakeCon 1998 was held at the Infomart in Dallas, Texas, along with the Cyberathlete Professional League. However, poor planning and a lack of experienced helpers made the event only partially a QuakeCon event. Despite this, it inspired people to start planning QuakeCon 1999 early.

From 1999 to 2002, QuakeCon was held at the Mesquite Convention Center in Texas. The 1999 event was the first where id Software played a major role in organizing the event. David Miller, also known as "Wino," and Paul Horoky, also known as "devilseye," both original QuakeCon 1996 organizers, contacted id Software and convinced them to become the main sponsor and help find more sponsors. With help from Anna Kang (then an id Software employee, now John Carmack's wife) and volunteers, they planned QuakeCon 1999, which became a model for future events. The new venue allowed the event to grow larger and was located near id Software's headquarters in Mesquite. id Software employees, including John Carmack, participated in tournaments with attendees. Many companies, such as Activision, AMD, Apple, and Logitech, sponsored the event for the first time. Quake 3 was also used in competition for the first time, even though it had not yet been released to the public.

In 2002, John Carney retired, and Brian Davis became the event's executive director. That year, id Software became more involved in pre-event activities, especially with the arrival of Marty Stratton the year before. Return to Castle Wolfenstein was added to the tournament lineup as a team-based event. The first unofficial Ms. QuakeCon event took place, as did the first appearance of Doom III theater and the first appearance of Mister Sinus Theater 3000 (later known as The Sinus Show and eventually Master Pancake Theater), an Austin, Texas-based MST3K troupe that criticized Britney Spears' movie Crossroads.

QuakeCon 2003 was held at the Adam's Mark Hotel in Dallas, Texas. It was the first venue change since the event moved to Mesquite, Texas, four years earlier. Tapper continued to manage volunteer activities, while id Software took on more pre-event planning through Marty Stratton. Ms. QuakeCon became a tournament-based event with a sponsor, and id Software introduced Doom 3 deathmatch. The first display of the award-winning Call of Duty franchise appeared in the exhibitor area.

QuakeCon 2004 was held at the Gaylord Texan Resort Hotel and Convention Center in Texas. This was the first time QuakeCon was listed in the record books as the largest LAN party in North America, with over 3,000 BYOC (Bring Your Own Computer) attendees. Tournament prizes totaled over $150,000, including the world's first official Doom 3 tournament, won by Johnathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel. The event featured live performances by The Sinus Show and Tweaker, who included Chris Vrenna, a former Nine Inch Nails drummer. This year also saw a leadership change after Brian Davis was injured weeks before the event. Aaron "Alric" Ferguson was appointed to replace Tapper at the last minute.

QuakeCon 2005 was a large event that introduced Quake 4 multiplayer. It was Aaron Ferguson's first full year as executive director, and it was the first time QuakeCon featured an all-girl gamer tournament with major cash prizes. Intel became the first sponsor to beat out AMD.

QuakeCon 2006 took place at the Hilton Anatole in Texas. It was the first time Enemy Territory: Quake Wars was playable by the public. Long delays before the event announcement led to Internet speculation that the event was canceled. Id Software executives had also discussed the possibility of holding the event outside Texas, breaking a 10-year tradition. The entire event was planned and executed in less than a month, a shorter timeline than previous years. It was the first QuakeCon to feature a Team Deathmatch tournament and the first to include Nvidia Quickdraw tournaments, where random people from the BYOC area competed for $1,000.

At QuakeCon 2007, Aaron "Alric" Ferguson remained the executive director. The event had five times more vendor space (25,000 square feet) than the 2006 event, with 7,000 square feet of total event space. The popular "Quick Draw" tournaments returned for all attendees. The second public beta of Enemy Territory: Quake Wars

Past events

List of Players with the Most Wins:
• Shane "Rapha" Hendrixson: 7 wins (2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2020, 2023)
• Alexey "Cypher" Yanushevsky: 4 wins (2008, 2010, 2012, 2014)
• John "ZeRo4" Hill: 3 wins (2000, 2001, 2003)
• Dan "RiX" Hammans: 2 wins (1997, 1998)
• Johan "Toxjq" Quick: 2 wins (2006, 2007)
• Nikita "clawz" Marchinsky: 2 wins (2017, 2018)
• Marcel "k1llsen" Paul: 2 wins (2019, 2022)

Sponsors

QuakeCon is mainly funded by ZeniMax Media and money from attendees, along with sponsorships from major technology companies. Previous sponsors of the event have included Activision, nVidia, AMD, Aspyr, ASUS, Ventrilo, Apple, ATI Technologies, AT&T Inc., Alienware, Ageia, 1UP Network, FragArcade, Intel, D-Link, Logitech, Linksys, Spike TV, Newegg, and Lucent Technologies.