Interested gamers can now try the open beta of the web-based Quake Live game
Id Software today has launched its browser-based
Quake Live video game as an open beta for anyone who wants to test the rehashed version of
Quake III Arena.
Quake Live is available for free and will be supported by in-game advertising, id Software said prior to the game's open beta launch today. The game is built upon the id Tech 3 engine and will have an ultimate focus more on gameplay speed instead of graphics.
Quake III has been an extremely popular video game over the years, but surprisingly has not lost its popularity as newer, more advanced game engines became available. The game still has a solid following of old-school gamers, and id hopes that both these players and casual gamers will flock to a free game that doesn't require a video game purchase.
"We've given it t the accessibility you would expect from a Web game," id Software executive producer Marty Stratton said. "That enables us to do a lot of things you would expect from a sports site, in the way we present the statistics and information, and a social networking site, in the way we connect people and let them know what their friends are doing."
In theory,
Quake Live will be able to use a custom engine to help balance out teams so games won't be so stacked, though early
Quake Live testers are still wary about the new system.
Several video games have tried to move into the browser space over the years, but
Quake arguably is the highest-profile video game to give it a serious attempt.
Quake Live has been in beta over the past few months, with gamers testing out bugs of the game.
It's likely other game makers will be watching to see the level of success of
Quake Live among gamers, as they too consider launching browser games in the future.
The game is available and can be played at
quakelive.com.