Quake turns 30: community releases 22-map Deathmatch Jam for classic arena fights

The Quake community is still celebrating the shooter's 30th anniversary, and its latest gift is a new map pack called Q30 Deathmatch Jam. Organized by mappers Annihilazor and Infiniti, the collection adds 22 fresh arenas built specifically for old-school deathmatch mayhem.

This year has already seen a steady stream of community map jams. Among them were two "Quickie" speedmapping events, a 1024 Jam that forced contributors to design maps within a cube of 1024 units, and a Limits Jam, which challenged participants to work under the same technical and design constraints as the original Quake campaign. Now the Q30 Deathmatch Jam brings another batch of blood-soaked birthday presents to the party.

The new maps span Quake's signature interdimensional settings, from gothic castles and sci-fi kill-zones to an industrial brown sewer dubbed The Filth Pit. Several well-known fan designers took part, including a collaborative map called Overflow by Mazu and Makkon. Makkon previously co-organized the acclaimed Quake Brutalist Jam 3, while Mazu designed that jam's standout entry — a five-hour mini-campaign with its own internal narrative.

Players can run Q30 Deathmatch Jam on a variety of modern Quake source ports, including Ironwail, Netquake, and Nightdive's Kex port used in the official Quake Remaster. In each case, the mod works as a standalone add-on: just drop the folder into your Quake directory and load it via the in-game console. For those looking to test their skills against others, online play is supported through Netquake.