A build of Quake 4: Awakening, the cancelled expansion for Raven Software’s 2005 shooter, has been uploaded to GitHub after former XCOM 2 programmer Justin Marshall discovered it on the hard drive of a second-hand computer he bought, as reported by PC Gamer.
Here’s the context: Awakening was in development at Ritual Entertainment, the studio behind SiN and its aborted episodic follow-up, before Activision cancelled the project due to underwhelming sales of the base Quake 4. The expansion was thought to have been lost until Marshall found the build on the hard drive.
Marshall described the discovery on the expansion’s GitHub page as arriving during a difficult period in his life. He said finding the build on a vintage computer bought through Amazon had a profound personal impact while he was going through a divorce.
PC Gamer reported that config files in the build are named after then-Ritual employees, including Duke Nukem 3D level designer Richard ‘Levelord’ Grey and Michael ‘RomSteady’ Russell. Russell had previously discussed the expansion with PC Gamer and estimated that it was 95% complete before Activision cancelled it.
A no-commentary playthrough from YouTuber pagb666 demonstrates the first three missions, showing new weapons including a cryo cannon and a sequence in which the player pilots a mech. Some scripted sequences appear unfinished, consistent with a build that was not fully polished.
- Developer – Ritual Entertainment, creators of SiN
- Cancellation – Activision cancelled the project after underwhelming sales of the base game
- Discovery – Justin Marshall found the build on a second-hand PC’s hard drive
- Build details – Config files include names of former Ritual employees
- Demonstrated content – A public playthrough shows the first three missions, a cryo cannon, and a mech sequence
Marshall uploaded the expansion as a preservation effort and expressed hope that the community could do something with it. Based on the footage already available, the build offers a look at a substantial portion of a cancelled project that had not previously been publicly accessible.
What remains unclear is how much of the alpha build can be played from start to finish beyond the three missions shown in the documented playthrough, and whether the public release will prompt a response from the parties connected with the project.
What to watch: Whether modders organize around the GitHub repository to patch or develop the remaining content, and whether the release draws a formal response. The discovery arrives in the same year that the original Quake received an official new episode as part of the franchise’s 30th-anniversary QuakeCon celebrations.
