Quake II RTX
Released Jun 2019
Quake II RTX is a cutting-edge, ray-traced reimagining of id software’s old school classic, by NVIDIA’s Lightspeed Studios. Global lighting effects, including realistic reflections, refraction, shadows, ambient occlusion and global illumination are a result of the path-traced simulation of light.
87% positive · 4,795 reviews
Done
All announced content has been released
High confidence
Done
All announced content has been released
High confidence
Where to get it
Free on Steam
Evaluation
Quake II RTX is a free-to-play ray-traced reimagining of the classic Quake II, released by NVIDIA's Lightspeed Studios on June 6, 2019. The base game includes the three levels from the original shareware distribution, with the full game available via purchase. There are no DLC listings, season passes, or announced future content of any kind.
Since launch, NVIDIA has released a series of technical maintenance and feature patches — v1.1.0 (June 19, 2019), v1.2.0 (November 26, 2019), v1.2.1 (November 28, 2019), v1.3.0 (January 6, 2020), v1.4.0 (December 15, 2020), v1.4.1 (January 28, 2021), v1.5.0 (March 30, 2021), v1.6.0 (January 21, 2022), v1.7.0 (April 18, 2023), and v1.8.0 (March 26, 2025). All of these are technical updates focused on rendering improvements, compatibility fixes, and engine enhancements — none introduce new game content such as levels, missions, or story expansions.
The game launched as a complete, self-contained product (a ray-traced version of a classic title). The ongoing patches reflect NVIDIA's continued interest in maintaining the tech demo / showcase, but they do not represent a content roadmap or promise of new gameplay material. The most recent update was v1.8.0 on March 26, 2025, described as a maintenance update incorporating fixes and features from the prior two years. No future updates have been announced following that release.
Because this game shipped as a finished product with no new gameplay content ever planned or delivered post-launch, its completion date is its original release date.
Evidence
Store description presents Quake II RTX as a complete, self-contained product — a ray-traced version of the classic game including shareware levels, with no mention of planned DLC or future content expansions.
v1.8.0 released as a maintenance update incorporating fixes and features from the past two years. No new game content announced or implied; no mention of future updates planned.
Media
Details
Developer
Publisher
NVIDIA
Achievements
—
Platform
Windows, Linux
Controller
—
Steam Deck
Unsupported
Players
Single-player
About this game
Download Quake II RTX
Quake II RTX is fully ray-traced and includes the 3 levels from the original shareware distribution.Game Description
Shortly after landing on an alien surface, you learn that hundreds of your men have been reduced to just a few. Now you must fight your way through heavily fortified military installations, lower the city's defenses and shut down the enemy's war machine. Only then will the fate of humanity be known.About Quake II RTX
Quake II RTX builds on the work of Christoph Schied and the team at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, who added ray tracing to Quake II to create Q2VKPT (in turn building upon the Q2PRO code base). NVIDIA has introduced new path-traced visual effects, has improved texturing, and has made dozens of other changes and improvements, resulting in an experience that rivals games created today, and pushes your RTX hardware to the limit.Buy Quake II
Purchase the game to access all levels as well as multiplayer support.Are these done yet?
Last evaluated Jun 26, 2026
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