Church of Quake logo

This will be a Double elimination Duel Tournament put on by Church of Quake. Anyone is able to join the tournament, but you must be attending the BYOC LAN event at QuakeCon 2026 as we will be using the BYOC server. Join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/gXWa42brc5
Casting by Church of Quake: https://www.twitch.tv/churchofquake

Register Here: https://play.toornament.com/en_US/tournaments/2536737139383883775/registration/

Organizer & contact
Church of Quake
oldhickory1767official@gmail.com
https://discord.gg/gXWa42brc5
http://churchofquake.com/

Current prize pool $300:
1st. 60% $180 Cash
2nd. 30% $90 Cash
3rd. 10% $30 Cash
Cash Donations being accepted by Old Hickory

Tournament rules

-Thursday August 6th at 3pm Central local time. Signups will end 30 minutes before at 2:30pm to seed.

-up to 64 players will compete in a Double elimination

-All games must be played on the QuakeCon 2026 BYOC server.
-Seeds will be picked by organizers.
-Each player will be given a 10 minute grace period once brackets have been updated. If the other player does not show up in that time then it will be considered a forfeit unless present party wants to wait.
-If both players agree the Duel can be Ranger vs Ranger (For people who may not have the Champion pack)

Upper Bracket will utilize BO3 Drop, Drop, Pick, Pick Map selection format:
1.Top Seed (Player 1) Chooses a map to drop from the map pool.
2. Lower Seed (Player 2) Chooses a map to drop from the map pool.
3. Player 1 chooses a map to pick from the map pool.
4. Player 2 chooses a map to pick form the map pool.
5. Winner of Game 2 picks last map for game 3 in the event of a tie.

-Lower Bracket will utilize BO1 Pick map format:

1. One player will flip the coin while the other player will call the coin. Church of Quake has a Coinflip channel just use the command “/flip” https://discord.com/channels/609603874474426372/1267153634169454642
2. winner Picks one map to play BO1.

-Lower Bracket Finals Will Utilize BO3 Pick map format like from Upper Bracket.

-Grand Finals will be a BO5 Winner of Upper Bracket gets 1 map advantage. 4 maps can be played so: Drop, Drop, Pick, Pick, Drop, Pick, Pick. That way all maps are either banned, or picked.

-Please report match results to Old Hickory via the Church of Quake discord: https://discord.gg/gXWa42brc5

Play Quake Champions for Free!

HAPPY FRAGGING FOLKS, AND GOOD LUCK TO ALL THE CONTESTANTS PARTICPATING!

This Post was Originally Written as an Article for Church of Quake.

This was the 65th tournament for the NAQCL tournament series. This is a weekly Quake Champions Duel Tournament series. Saturdays at 2 PM EST | 8 PM CEST. No ping limit anymore, so no excuse to not join us every week.
Tournament Page: https://play.toornament.com/en_US/tou...

Live on twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/churchofquake

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

EGB Logo

Good Morning Quakers! Exciting news as a EGB is now sponsoring a new Weekly Quake Champions Duel Tournament series every Sunday starting this Sunday July 19th. With this addition we will now have Estoty on Fridays, NAQCL on Saturdays, and EBG Cups on Sundays. Weekends are now for Quake!

Important Links to Follow:

• EGB CUP 1 Must signin to register
• 250 FPS discord
• Casting by st0n3_qc

Map Pool:

• Awoken
• Blood Covenant
• Blood Run
• Corrupted Keep
• Deep Embrace
• Ruins of Sarnath
• Vale of Pnath

Rules English

Match Settings:

Game Mode: Time Limit Duel.

Map Duration: 10 minutes.

Frag Limit: None (or set to 100). The player with the most kills in 10 minutes wins.

Overtime (Sudden Death): If the score is tied after 10 minutes, the game continues until the first frag.

Champion Selection Format (Pick/Ban)

Before each map, players engage in a character ban and pick phase:
Each player selects one primary champion for the entire map.

The Champion Lock rule applies: if one player has picked a specific champion, the other player cannot use it on that map (mirror matches are prohibited).

In a match series (e.g., BO3 or BO5), a global lock rule typically applies: a champion a player has already won a map with cannot be picked in subsequent games of the series.

Discipline and Technical Rules

Prohibited Software: The use of any third-party programs for graphics modification, macros, or strafe-jump scripts is strictly punishable by disqualification.

Pauses: Technical pauses (via the in-game menu) are only permitted with the judge’s consent or in the event of an official disconnection.

Rules Russian

Основные настройки матча

Режим игры: Time Limit Duel (Дуэль с ограничением по времени).
Длительность карты: 10 минут.
Лимит фрагов: отсутствует (или выставлен на 100). Побеждает игрок, набравший большее количество убийств за 10 минут.
Овертайм (Sudden Death): если по истечении 10 минут зафиксирована ничья, игра продолжается до первого фрага.

Формат выбора чемпионов (Pick/Ban)
Перед стартом каждой карты игроки проводят стадию банов и пиков персонажей:

Каждый игрок выбирает одного основного чемпиона на всю карту.
Применяется правило запрета на повторение (Champion Lock): если один игрок выбрал конкретного чемпиона, второй игрок использовать его на этой карте уже не может (зеркальные матчи запрещены).
В серии матчей (например, BO3 или BO5) действует правило глобального лока: чемпиона, на котором игрок уже выиграл карту, нельзя брать в последующих играх серии.

Дисциплина и технические правила

Запрещенный софт: использование любых сторонних программ для изменения графики, макросов или скриптов на распрыжку (strafe-jump) строго карается дисквалификацией.
Паузы: техническая пауза (через внутриигровое меню) допускается только при согласии судьи или в случае официального дисконнекта.

Play Quake Champions for Free!

HAPPY FRAGGING FOLKS, AND GOOD LUCK TO ALL THE CONTESTANTS PARTICPATING!

This Post Was Originally Written as an Article for Church of Quake

id Logo 2009

This week has been especially difficult for id Software fans as the studio was one of the hardest hit by layoffs within XBOX on Monday. It’s still too early to say what will happen. Game development cycles take years, and with new XBOX leadership anything is possible. Things that were never on the table to be consider under previous management like during the Phil Spencer, and Sara Bond era will now be considered. This isn’t going to be an oped about everything just a summary of what has happened, and what might happen going forward. The big thing to understand is that a lot is being said, and its impossible for anyone to know the current future. Even XBOX might not know completely what the strategy is going forward. Asha Sharma has only been XBOX’s CEO for less than 6 months, but in the next 24 months XBOX will be shipping its proposed 5th generation gaming device Project Helix which is meant to be a Console Computer hybrid for the living room.

Asha Sharma’s open letter to team XBOX about the reset | restructuring
Asha Sharma’s We Are XBOX Message from April

Please consider signing the petition to bring Adam Syncerror Pyle back

The first thing that is hard to determine is just how bad the layoffs are for id Software. The WARN report filing indicates that 136 employees were impacted that reported to the Richardson branch. 96 in office workers, and 40 remote staff workers. id Software actually has 2 studios now the one we think of in Texas with Hugo, and Marty that mostly make the games, and another in Frankfurt Germany that runs the id Tech team. If the WARN report is a reflection of all laid off it might actually mean the id Tech team was untouched completely. Which while still terrible would at least indicate id Software may still be looked at to make full Triple AAA Games. Although it should be said that fellow sister studio to id within Bethesda Softworks is Machine Games who also uses modified id Tech for their own games. Its possible the Tech is sticking around regardless of what happens to the Texas branch. Perhaps the Tech will be used by other teams outside of Bethesda | ZeniMax. Some have speculated that the Texas branch has been reduced to just support staff within Bethesda Softworks, or for other XBOX games studios. I’ll say more about that below.

Public Message from id July 10th 26

id Software made it’s first public statement since the layoffs today July 10th 2026. it reads as followed:

Thank you all for the support this Week.

While our studio was impacted, those changes were spread across teams. We still have the crew we need to build the games and tech we’re known for. The team today is about the same size we were when making DOOM (2016). We have always had a flat studio where everyone is a maker, and we will remain true to that philosophy moving forward.

We are focused on supporting each other the team members impacted. We’re going to keep building the great games and tech that have defined us for the past 35 years, and we’re looking forward to seeing you at Quakecon this August.

A few things we can actually gather from their statement if id is now the same size as they were when DOOM 2016 released that would probably mean they are around 200 Employees right now. Meaning before the layoffs they most likely were around 350 people. Its actually quite hard to find exact figures, and also games go through many different phases. Some people may only be at a studio for 2 years to do one specific aspect, or feature and then move on to another studio. It is just to say these number are always in flux, and studios do typically off load after a project ends, and they then spend 6 months to a year prototyping what their next project will be. Once the new project gets selected studios usually beef up. We could just be seeing the worst case scenario of two crossroads. id was going to off load some employees after the DOOM the Dark Ages DLC Revelations, but then the XBOX initiative also happened at the same time, so more staff than normal were let go after this project ended.

What I gather from this is that there are many studios much larger than id Software that are still support studios, so I don’t think there is a magical number they can be reduced to that makes them become a support studio by default. None of the actual reports have stated they are a support studio now just that they could be support studio size. Also many other studios still produce Triple AAA games just like id Software with fewer people than id Software. So I’m not sure that this studio size revelation really means much in the long term.

Realistically id Software is going to be incubating new projects to pitch to Bethesda | ZeniMax, or XBOX | Asha Sharma directly. If this is the case then id Software might remain at its current size until development of their next project happens.

Continue to test the PTS

You might also be asking how does any of this effect Quake Champions, and I’m really not sure. Syncerror has still put in the PTS channel to test the current PTS build, so this does imply that we are at least getting one additional update in the future. If that will be the final update though that is unclear. In the above message from id Software they do say they still have the staff to service their games. What could happen.

1. Remaining staff at id Software work on Quake Champions in some way continuing seasons after 30, and 31
2. New staff is brought on to work on Quake Champions
3. Quake Champions gets shut down after what will most likely be Season 31 later this year. Hopefully if that does happen it comes with some sort of server support for the community.
4. Contracted to another studio like Certain Affinity, or y’all will love this one Saber Interactive, but realistically they both have the most recent past experience with id Software. Could also see Eidos-Montreal as they have been doing lots of contracting work recently. Double Eleven, Splash Damage, and Iron Galaxy could also be contenders.

So where will these impacted staff members go? Impacted employees may go to other triple AAA studios. They might make their own studios going independent, or they may leave the industry completely. Here are some thoughts on where they might go though.

• Retro Studios in Austin (Make Metroid Prime Series)
• Gearbox Software Frisco (Borderlands
• People Can Fly Dallas (Bulletstorm)
• Certain Affinity Austin (Halo, and DOOM 2016 support)
• Infinity Ward (Call of Duty)
• Raven Software (Call of Duty)
• Sledgehammer Games (Call of Duty)
• Treyarch (Call of Duty)
• Nightdive studios (Many Classic remasters like Quake 1, 2, Doom 1, 2, 64, and Hexen | Heretic)
• Machine Games (Wolfenstein, and Indiana Jones, and the Great Circle)
• Tech: Epic Games for Unreal, NVIDIA, or AMD

Thank you for sticking around, and I do apologize for the different, or rather dire content coming from us recently. Hopefully we have more positive stuff to talk about soon.

This Post was Originally Written as an Article for Church of Quake.

Church of Quake Logo

Good Afternoon Quakers! We are less than a month away from LineCon starting at QuakeCon 2026. Please check the QuakeCon link here to get a complete breakdown from the organizers themselves. Even though we are promoting this within QuakeCon anyone is allowed to signup and join. Each team will consist of 4 members to play 4v4 Sacrifice Tournament Edition. First 32 signups is a guarantee. All signups after will be reserves unless we hit 64 signups by Wednesday August 5th. We are trying our best to avoid scheduling conflicts with other Quake Champions events, so we have decide to host this Saturday August 8th at 10 AM EST 4 PM CEST.

If you want to practice for the tournament, or just want to play more quake join Church of Quake’s discord where we have a self hosted pubobot for pickup games. We play Sacrifice every night around 9 PM EST, or global pickups every Sunday starting at 2 PM EST 8 PM CEST.

Important Links to Follow:

• Sign-up Form
• Current Sign-ups
• Church of Quake discord Must Join
• Donate to the PrizePool
• Church of Quake twitter for updates

Watch:

• Church of Quake twitch
• Anyone is welcome to cast any of the matches (contact Cashed, or Old Hickory if you want to cast on the Church of Quake stream)
• We encourage those participating to stream, &, or record their perspective as well. A 5 to 20 second delay is recommended, but not required.

Sponsor:

• Church of Quake

Tournament Organizers:

• Pun1sh
• oldhickory

Game Mode:

• Sacrifice Tourney
• Double elimination

Information from Organizer:

Format: Draft tournament, teams of 4. Sign ups are first come first serve. Admins will determine captains and final participant list. Aiming for a 8 team or 16 team double elimination tournament. The first 32 sign ups are guaranteed a spot, any sign ups after will be reserves. If we reach 64 sign ups, we will include the additional sign ups to have 16 teams. Upper bracket is Best of 3 throughout, lower bracket are Best of 1. Pick/Ban process for maps are based off seed, with the lower seed banning a map first (ban/ban/pick/pick/last map is the tie break if needed). Lower Bracket Finals will be Best of 3 like Upper Bracket. Grand Finals will be Best of 5.

• Everyone should make their best effort to be accommodating to other players and tournament staff. Trash talk is expected but excessive harassment will lead to removal from the event. 
• These rules may be adjusted as-needed at admin discretion. 
• If something is not explicitly mentioned in this document, admins will use common sense to find an equitable solution.

Play Quake Champions for Free!

Good Luck & Have Fun!

This Post was Originally Written as an Article for Church of Quake

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

Terrible news over the past 24 hours for our community as the Quake Champions team has been let go from id Software. You can read more about what is going on at Xbox from the new CEO Asha Sharma from this Xbox Wire post she posted yesterday: https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2026/07/06/resetting-xbox/ Essentially Xbox is refocusing on Tent pole franchises to help bring in strong profit margins closer to other Microsoft organizations like Windows, Surface, and Office Suite. While id Software was not shut down yesterday the reports are saying that as much as 50% of id's staff was let go yesterday. Some reports are saying the id Tech team was let go completely leaving id without an in house engine if true. There has been officially no wording from id Software, or Bethesda | ZeniMax on the state of id Software's future, or any ongoing projects. The reorganizing from yesterday was only part 1. 1600 jobs were let go, but 1600 more will be let go by the end of fiscal year 2027, so by June of 2027.

In the meantime I have made a change.org petition to bring back Syncerror. I have little hope this will do anything, but these times require the community to visibility show their support. Please consider signing, and sharing this petition so we can show Xbox leadership this is an important and valuable community to us: https://c.org/8fCttnj9Jd

Tournament Page: https://play.toornament.com/en_US/tou...

Join the NAQCL discord for more tournament info: https://discord.com/invite/9mYpsF2H4Q

Catch it live on our twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/churchofquake

Quake Champions Sacrifice Pickups in the not so Elite MF's discord. Come Join us Mondays at 1pm EST | 6 PM CET: https://discord.com/invite/hUZUasabKS

Weekly Duel Tournament every Saturday starting at 2 PM EST.

Tournament Page: https://play.toornament.com/en_US/tournaments/2504410193635680255/

Catch Live: https://www.twitch.tv/churchofquake

For more info join the NAQCL discord: https://discord.com/invite/9mYpsF2H4Q

Thanks to an awesome community member Church of Quake now has its own self hosted pickup bot for Quake Champions & Quake 3 Arena pickup games.
Come Help us test out now in our discord!