Editing Quake (video game) (section)

===Sales===
According to [[David Kushner (writer)|David Kushner]] in ''[[Masters of Doom]]'', id Software released a retail [[shareware]] version of ''Quake'' before the game's full retail distribution by [[GT Interactive]]. These shareware copies could be converted into complete versions through passwords purchased via phone. However, Kushner wrote that "gamers wasted no time hacking the shareware to unlock the full version of the game for free." This problem, combined with the scale of the operation, led id Software to cancel the plan. As a result, the company was left with 150,000 unsold shareware copies in storage. The venture damaged ''Quake''{{'}}s initial sales and caused its retail push by GT Interactive to miss the holiday shopping season. Following the game's full release, Kushner remarked that its early "sales were good — with 250,000 units shipped — but not a phenomenon like ''Doom II''."<ref name="mastersdoom">{{Cite book |last=Kushner |first=David |title=Masters of Doom: how two guys created an empire and transformed pop culture |title-link=Masters of Doom |publisher=Random House |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-375-50524-9 |location=New York |at=[https://archive.org/details/mastersdoomhowtw00kush/page/n225 226]}}</ref>

In the United States, ''Quake'' placed sixth on [[PC Data]]'s monthly computer game sales charts for November and December 1996.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Staff |date=April 1997 |title=PC Data Best-Sellers |magazine=[[Computer Gaming World]] |issue=153 |pages=32}}</ref> Its shareware edition was the sixth-best-selling computer game of 1996 overall, while its retail [[Stock keeping unit|SKU]] claimed 20th place.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bauman, Steve |date=November 2000 |title=A Decade of Gaming; Top Sellers of 1996 |journal=[[Computer Games Magazine]] |issue=120 |pages=70}}</ref> The shareware version sold 393,575 copies<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=51nvAAAAMAAJ |title=Screen Digest |date=1997 |publisher=[[Screen Digest]] |page=132}}</ref> and grossed $3,005,519 (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=3005519|start_year=1996}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}) in the United States during 1996.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=November 11, 1997 |title=Top Selling CD-ROMs Ranked by Unit Sales, in 1996 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b42ktZ4_UAgC |journal=[[The Wall Street Journal|The Wall Street Journal Almanac 1998]] |publisher=[[Ballantine Books]] |page=486 |isbn=9780345405210}}</ref> It remained in PC Data's monthly top 10 from January to April 1997,<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Staff |date=May 1997 |title=READ.ME; PC Data Best-Sellers |magazine=[[Computer Gaming World]] |issue=154 |page=34}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Staff |date=June 1997 |title=READ.ME; PC Data Best-Sellers |magazine=[[Computer Gaming World]] |issue=155 |page=36}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Lee, Helen |date=May 1, 1997 |title=PC Data Releases Monthly Numbers |url=http://headline.gamespot.com:80/news/97_05/01_pcdatamar/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000306101157/http://headline.gamespot.com/news/97_05/01_pcdatamar/index.html |archive-date=March 6, 2000 |website=[[GameSpot]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Feldman, Curt |date=June 3, 1997 |title=''Diablo''...Stayin' Alive |url=http://headline.gamespot.com:80/news/97_06/03_pcdata/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000226082500/http://headline.gamespot.com/news/97_06/03_pcdata/index.html |archive-date=February 26, 2000 |website=[[GameSpot]]}}</ref> but was absent by May.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Staff |date=September 1997 |title=READ.ME; PC Data Best-Sellers |magazine=[[Computer Gaming World]] |issue=158 |page=31}}</ref> During its first 12 months, ''Quake'' sold 373,000 retail copies and earned $18 million in the United States, according to PC Data.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Takahashi, Dean |last2=Ramstad, Evan |date=December 9, 1997 |title=New Sequel to ''Quake'' Beefs Up Blood, Guts to Spur Bigger Sales |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB881621121317442500 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20180520041705/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB881621121317442500 |archive-date=May 20, 2018 |access-date=May 20, 2018 |website=[[The Wall Street Journal]]}}</ref> Its final retail sales for 1997 were 273,936 copies, which made it the country's 16th-highest computer game seller for the year.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Staff |date=April 1998 |title=The Best-Selling Games of 1997 |journal=[[PC Gamer US]] |volume=5 |issue=4 |page=44}}</ref>

In 1997, id estimated that there may be as many as 5 million copies of Quake circulating.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Takahashi |first=Dean |date=January 6, 1997 |title=Violent Quake Is Shaking Up The World of Internet Games |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB852503963674205500 |access-date=September 7, 2021 |newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]]}}{{closed access}}{{subscription required|s}}</ref> The game sold over 1.4 million copies by December 1997.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Li |first=Kenneth |date=December 14, 1997 |title=Net gamers in league |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/86824402/daily-news/ |access-date=October 10, 2021 |page=204 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |newspaper=[[Daily News (New York)|Daily News]] |location=New York}}</ref> Sales of ''Quake'' reached 550,000 units in the United States alone by December 1999.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ajami, Amer |date=December 13, 1999 |title=''Quake III'' Sales Through the Roof |url=http://headline.gamespot.com:80/news/99_12/13_pc_quake/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000304053210/http://headline.gamespot.com/news/99_12/13_pc_quake/index.html |archive-date=March 4, 2000 |website=[[GameSpot]]}}</ref>