Quake Live gets standalone client

Bethesda today announced that Quake Live is getting a standalone client. Rather than playing the game through their web-browsers, players will now have to download and install a standalone client, which they will use to launch the game.

Certain functions will remain available on quakelive.com, allowing players to manage account settings, view profiles, manage clans, and even launch Pro matches, but all players will need to download the standalone client. Third-party standalone clients are no longer compatible with Quake Live following this transition.

Sadly, switching to a standalone client also means that players with Linux and Mac operating systems will no longer be able to run the game. Bethesda says that testers have managed to make Quake Live work through emulation or visualization software, but that it's unable to support native Mac and Linux versions.

Players who subscribe to Premium Pro Quake Live but don't meet the operating system requirement should contact Customer support via the Support Link or support@quakelive.com.

Quake Live, which launched in 2010, is essentially a port of the 1999 PC Game Quake III Arena. Its ability to run on most web-browsers was a big selling point at the time.