Choose Quake III Arena
Choose Quake III Arena if you want the LAN PvP side of the pairing. 2,021 Steam reviews back the pick.
Quake III Arena vs Quake
Quake III Arena and Quake both land in Action on Steam, which is why they keep getting compared. The comparison below is built from each game's Steam metadata — release year, genres, categories, Steam Deck status, price, and review score — refreshed daily by imho.run's scraper. Headline differences: Both are Action games on Steam. Both released in 2007. Both sit near 96% positive on Steam (Quake III Arena: 2,021 reviews, Quake: 9,755). No login or purchase needed — scroll for the full table, the verdict FAQ, and links to ranked similar games for both titles.
Which should you pick?
Choose Quake
Choose Quake if you want the Shared/Split Screen, Shared/Split Screen PvP, and Online Co-op side of the pairing. On Steam, it's currently about 33% cheaper on the Steam Store. 9,755 Steam reviews back the pick.
Both Quake III Arena and Quake sit in Action on Steam and both list Multi-player, Online PvP, and PvP, so either pick lands in the same broad neighborhood. Steam reviews are nearly tied (95.7% vs 96.4% positive), so genre fit is the cleanest tiebreaker — scroll the table for the feature-by-feature view.
Side-by-side comparison
 Quake III Arena |  Quake | |
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2007 | 2007 |
| Genres | Action | Action |
| Platforms | Windows | Windows |
| Steam Deck | Deck Unsupported | Deck Verified |
| Price | 14.99 USD | 9.99 USD |
| Steam reviews | 95.7% positive (2,021 reviews) | 96.4% positive (9,755 reviews) |
| Multiplayer | Multi-player | Multi-player, Cross-Platform Multiplayer, Online Co-op |
| Developers | id Software | id Software, Nightdive Studios, MachineGames |
Side by side
- Both are Action games on Steam.
- Both released in 2007.
- Both sit near 96% positive on Steam (Quake III Arena: 2,021 reviews, Quake: 9,755).
- Quake is currently ~33% cheaper on Steam than Quake III Arena (9.99 USD vs. 14.99 USD).
- Quake has co-op; Quake III Arena does not.
- Steam Deck: Quake III Arena is Deck Unsupported, Quake is Deck Verified.
Quake III Arena vs Quake — FAQ
- Which is better, Quake III Arena or Quake?
- On Steam reviews the two are nearly tied: Quake III Arena sits at 95.7% positive (2,021 reviews), Quake at 96.4% (9,755). The choice usually comes down to genre fit and the platform features each one supports — see the comparison table above.
- Are Quake III Arena and Quake similar?
- They overlap on Action on Steam, so the catalogue groups them together — but "similar" depends on the specific mechanics. Use the genre + category rows above to decide whether the overlap matches what drew you to the one you've already played.