Yes! Quake Champions is ditching loot boxes for a battle pass
Just quad we wanted.
Hooray! Quake Champions is freeing itself of a messy - and random - loot box system in favour of a clearer Fortnite-style battle pass.
The current system will be ripped out and replaced in a December update, which doesn't appear to have a release date yet, although the battle pass apparently begins 20th December, so presumably the two events will coincide.
Instead of earning loot boxes and associated paraphernalia, you'll earn XP for daily and weekly rewards, and this will propel you along a familiar two-tiered line of unlockable rewards - a stingy free line and a generous paid line.
You can join the paid line at any point during a season - yes there are seasons - and when you do, you'll retroactively unlock any paid-line rewards you've progressed past.
Separately and additionally, there will be a champion progression system. This will allow you to directly target a champion to earn cosmetic rewards for, and it's here you'll spend shards.
Everything other than reliquaries - a grand type of loot box - will vamoosh, and even those reliquaries will be revamped. They'll now guarantee a legendary drop, have a near-zero duplicate rate, and offer a wider variety of items.
Runes are out, thank god, and any rune rewards you were working towards will, rather generously, be completed and given to you (quick! go start some!). Backpacks, chests, favour: all gone. Any loot boxes you've already earned will remain, post-update, to open.
It's a very welcome change. The loot box system bogged down Quake Champions, a game of fast gunplay, and never felt quite designed for the job. It was there by virtue of being the most popular way to monetise an online game at the time, I suspect.
Now that title belongs to the battle pass, of course, although it's a much leaner, more coherent, and - more importantly - consumer-friendly way of doing business.
There's a Quake Champions economy overhaul FAQ for extra detail.