Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor helped celebrate the 30th anniversary of Quake with a surprise merchandise drop as well as a special message for fans.
Reznor and NIN created the soundtrack to the revolutionary video game, which was released in 1996. His video message was played for attendees at this year’s QuakeCon in Grapevine, Texas, as part of a special 30th anniversary celebration by developers id Software.
“Many, many years ago when I first encountered Wolfenstein, it felt impossible,” began Reznor. “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.”
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He continued, “In some ways, it felt parallel to what I was trying to do with music by misshaping things and trying to express myself. 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 in 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 the video, Reznor and NIN have also surprise dropped a line of unique Quake 30th anniversary merchandise, including T-shirts, hoodies, a musical keychain, and a replica ammo box from the game.
Much of the unique merchandise sold out immediately, with only commemorative hoodies and 2LP copies of the Quake soundtrack composed by Trent Reznor remaining at NIN’s US webstore. The full collection is still available for pre-order at NIN’s UK storefront as of this posting.
Alongside the new Quake merchandise collection from Nine Inch Nails, Bethesda have released a new 19-map campaign for the original Quake titled “Dawn of the Machines” as further celebration of the landmark anniversary of the legendary franchise.
See some of the Quake anniversary merch drop, as well as Reznor’s special message, below.
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