Nine Inch Nails are celebrating 30 years of iconic shooter Quake with a limited-edition merch collection.
Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor composed the score for the ground-breaking and influential dark fantasy first-person shooter Quake. Game developers id software celebrated its anniversary last night (August 6) at the annual QuakeCon where Reznor shared a video message with fans.
“Many, many years ago when I first encountered Wolfenstein, it felt impossible. Nothing was like that. It was a radical departure from what I knew from video games. I went out and bought a PC just to play it. Jump ahead a few years and Doom came out. It was like a bomb went off. It was not only technologically advanced but there was nothing else like it. It felt like no adults were involved, no body said no. It was free and it was fantastic.”
A surprise message for fans during our Quake 30 panel from Trent Reznor of @nineinchnails, composer of @Quake’s original game soundtrack! pic.twitter.com/rg1M68c1ii
— Bethesda (@bethesda) August 6, 2026
“In some ways, it felt parallel to what I was trying to do with music by misshaping things and trying to express myself,” he continued. “I really felt a connection to it. Crossed paths with the id guys, hit it off, became friends and was grateful to be invited to be part of the Quake team, working on music and sound effects. Of all the things I’ve done on my career, I’m extremely proud of that. The game holds up well today, and I think it was a great moment in time.”
Alongside that message, Nine Inch Nails have also shared a limited-edition anniversary merch range that includes t-shirts, hoodies, a musical keychain and a special replica ammo box. Pre-orders are live here.
QUAKE + NINE INCH NAILS
30 YEARS OF QUAKE
LIMITED MERCH COLLECTION
PRE-ORDER NOW • https://t.co/CfgpJXwSAC pic.twitter.com/wFGMHch2xj— nine inch nails (@nineinchnails) August 6, 2026
To celebrate 30 years of Quake, publishers Bethesda have released a new 19-map campaign for the game.
“Dawn Of The Machine is a celebration of Quake’s history and influence on the developers at MachineGames and id Software,” reads a blog post. “As such, players will face deadly twists on familiar entries from Quake bestiary such as the Rocket Ogre, Demo Dog, and Blood Shambler, rising to the challenge with new weapon variants like ricochet-blasting Laser Cannon and the lightning-infused Super Axe for classic, fast-paced Quake carnage.”
“We wanted to create something that felt authentic to the spirit of the original game: Horror! Action! Madness!,” added level designer Andrew Yoder.
In other news, The Cure, Radiohead and more have been confirmed for the soundtrack for Stage Tour, a spiritual successor to Guitar Hero.