Cancelled Quake 4 expansion gets surprise GitHub release after former XCOM 2 developer discovers it on an old hard drive: 'This essentially saved my life'
Quake 4: Awakening was in development at Ritual Entertainment before being scrapped.
In a remarkable turn of events, a cancelled Quake 4 expansion has been discovered and released online, thanks to the efforts of a former XCOM 2 developer. The expansion, Quake 4: Awakening, was created by Ritual Entertainment before being discontinued due to low sales of the base game. Justin Marshall, a seasoned game developer, stumbled upon a copy of the expansion on the hard drive of an old PC he purchased on Amazon.
Marshall, who has worked on games like The Evil Within, XCOM 2, Dead Island 2, and The Dark Pictures Anthology, revealed that the discovery had a profound impact on his life, particularly during a difficult period following a divorce. He explained that finding the expansion on GitHub essentially saved his life, as he was going through an extremely tough time.
The expansion, which was 95% complete before being abandoned by Activision, features new weapons and a section where players pilot a mech. Marshall uploaded the build to GitHub with the intention of preserving it and hoping that the community could further enhance it. The discovery of the cancellation of Quake 4: Awakening serves as a reminder of the unpredictable nature of the video game industry and the importance of preserving digital artifacts for future generations.
Written by urgent.news from PC Gamer's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
