Next week will mark the 20th annual Quakecon, a massive 4-day PC gaming event hosted by Quake and Doom creators Id Software in Dallas, Texas. The event will begin on July 23 and run through July 26.

Now that Id is owned by Zenimax Media Inc, the parent company of Bethesda Game Studios, Quakecon has become more than just a Quake-themed LAN party, and this year Bethesda director Todd Howard will be showcasing never before seen footage of the upcoming Fallout 4 on Friday at 1pm local time.

There will also be a presentation by Id at 3pm on Saturday, who will be hosting a panel discussion about its reboot of the Doom franchise, which is simply called Doom. Because that is not confusing.

Nerds and charity

This year’s Quakcon will also see multiple charities taking part in the event, including Take This, Dallas Pets Alive, Extra Life, and DFW Nerd Night.

“The community has been the backbone of QuakeCon ever since the first gathering in 1996,” said Pete Hines, VP of PR and Marketing, Bethesda Softworks. “Now it’s our turn to show our appreciation by supporting some amazing organizations while giving something back to our ever-important supporters and fans.”

The American Red Cross will also be holding a blood drive during the event itself and will be offering a “special gift” for attendees who donate.

The little con that could

The first ever Quakecon was a fan-created, Id-sponsored event held in 1996 at a La Quinta Inn just outside Id Software’s Garland, Texas, headquarters. While the creators of the event originally expected about 50 attendees, the actual number was triple that.

The following year, the event grew even bigger with over 650 gamers swarming over a Holiday Inn in Plano, followed by a crowd of over 1100 that took over the Mesquite Convention Center in 1999. As the event continued to grow, Id took a more hands-on role with the planning of Quakecon, making the event more or less official.

Eventually, the event outgrew even the Mesquite Convention Center, and by 2014 the attendance numbers swelled to over 9000 fans. Quakecon is now regularly held at the Hilton Anatole just outside downtown Dallas.

You can view a full schedule of events for this year’s Quakecon here.

Photo by QuakeCon