New Bethesda Update Teases Return of Iconic Shooter Series

March 12, 2026, 10:48am

A new move from publisher Bethesda has teased the return of one of the most iconic shooter franchises in history. Perhaps more than any other company, Bethesda owns some of the biggest and most important shooter properties to ever come about. This is most prominently seen with Wolfenstein and DOOM, but also includes series like Prey and Rage. Now, based on a new update stemming from Bethesda, it looks like it could be planning a revival of one IP that hasn’t received much love since the turn of the century.

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Spotted by Timur222 on X, Bethesda recently filed a new trademark for Quake. Developed by id Software, Quake began in 1996 and went on to become one of the most important games of its time. It was followed by multiple sequels in Quake 2 and Quake 3 Arena, both of which were quite popular in their own right. Over the past 20 years, though, little has happened with the IP, with 2017’s Quake Champions being the most recent installment in the series.

As for the trademark in question, Bethesda’s parent company, ZeniMax Media, filed it earlier this month on March 3rd. Details in the trademark filing itself say very little, which means that it’s not known if this is for a new game or simply the franchise as a whole.

Is Bethesda Bringing This Franchise Back?

So does this trademark for Quake point to a new entry in the series being on the horizon? Well, it’s hard to say. Bethesda could have no plans for Quake at the moment, which means it would be re-upping this trademark simply to retain it. Then again, trademark filings like this in the past have been the first major indicator of new projects being in development, meaning that there is certainly reason to believe this could be a tease of something new happening with Quake.