Convert ROQ files online for free
The converter easily converts your ROQ file to various formats - free and online. No VLC or extra software needed.
The converter also works in reverse, so you can convert other Video formats to ROQ with high quality output.
A .ROQ file is a proprietary video container developed by id Software for use in the id Tech 3 game engine. These files typically contain Full Motion Video (FMV) cutscenes, intros, or animated textures for classic titles like Quake III Arena, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, and American McGee's Alice.
Because .ROQ utilizes an obsolete vector quantization compression algorithm designed for late-90s hardware, it is practically useless outside of the specific game environments it was created for. Modern media players (like Windows Media Player or QuickTime) and video editors (like Adobe Premiere Pro) cannot natively open or edit these files. Users generally encounter them when extracting assets from game archives (like PK3 files) and find themselves unable to view the content. To preserve these retro gaming moments or use them in video essays, you must convert them.
For general viewing and web sharing, convert .ROQ to MP4 (H.264/AAC). If you intend to edit the footage for a high-quality remaster or YouTube project, convert to an intermediate format like ProRes or uncompressed AVI to prevent further compression artifacts, though be aware the source resolution is often low (e.g., 512x512).
Use Convert.Guru to open and convert your ROQ file.
Users also converted MP4, AVI, FMV, BK2 and VP6 files.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our ROQ converter.