A Quick Time Event (QTE) is a method of gameplay used in video games. It allows for limited control of the game character during cut scenes or cinematic sequences in the game, and generally involves the player following onscreen prompts to press buttons. The name does not have any direct relationship to Apple's QuickTime software.

History

Gameplay sequences with minimal actual gameplay are not a recent invention. Dragon's Lair (Cinematronics, 1983) was an arcade game that showed video clips stored on a laserdisc. This gave it graphics on par with an animated cartoon at a time when video games were not long past allowing players to count the individual pixels on game characters, but left little room for anything else. Gameplay consisted of watching an animated video and pressing the correct button every few seconds to avoid seeing a (circumstance-specific) loss scene and losing a life. In modern terms, Dragon's Lair's gameplay would be a series of QTEs in rapid succession. Dragon's Lair founded the small genre of laserdisc video games. The popularization of the CD-ROM led to the brief rise of interactive movies, games with more emphasis of witnessing events than influencing them.

Shenmue (Sega, 1999) introduced QTEs in the modern form of interludes in an otherwise more interactive game. Since its release, several other games have included a QTE system or something similar. Some of the higher profile titles that focused on such a system include Resident Evil 4, Fahrenheit, the God of War series, Spider-Man 3, Heavenly Sword, Prince of Persia, Soul Calibur III, Tomb Raider: Legend, Turok (2008 video game), Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, Dead Space, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and Quantum of Solace (video game).

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