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Why It's So Important Quake Champions Runs at 120Hz

"That's why it's a PC game. No excuses. No limitations."

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When id Software announced Quake Champions at E3, creative director Tim Willits stressed that the shooter would run at 120Hz. Now, he's shared some further details on why the high refresh rate is so important.

In an interview with GameSpot, Willits said while many people may not be able to tell the difference between 60Hz and 120Hz, the pro players can--and without them, the game might suffer.

"It's everything from input sampling of the mouse to making sure that your monitor refresh rate is fast enough," he said. "Because even with Quake Live, we have found throughout the years that going from 30 to 60 is huge, but even 60 to 120--is noticeable.

"Most of us, and even me, I can't really tell the difference," he added. "But there are some players who are inhuman. And we can't come out and say we're going to make a game for them and not run ridiculously fast. Because if we lose the pro guys, we're in trouble."

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Willits went on to say reaching 120Hz is one of the reasons why Quake Champions is a PC-exclusive. "That's why it's a PC game. No excuses. No limitations," he said.

The game can reach 120Hz if your computer can support it and it also sports an uncapped frame rate. Overall, however, the game is designed to run on a variety of PC systems.

"We want to make sure that we have as many people as we possibly can," Willits said in an earlier interview. "You'll be able to turn down your specs and get a decent game at lower-end. But we want to shine on good systems.

Quake Champions will be a PC-exclusive for launch, but id Software has not ruled out console versions. "We're not totally shutting the door on consoles," Willits said.

Regarding a release date for Quake Champions, id Software hasn't announced one. Willits said the developer is not going to rush the game to release, in part because balancing the game (only four characters have been announced so far, but there will be more) is not so easy a task.

"It's going to come out after a really, really long closed beta. I'm telling people now, it's going to be a long beta," he explained.

More details about Quake Champions will be announced at QuakeCon in August.

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