Quake Live is changing, in part to find a wider audience on Steam

Quake Live, id Software's fast-paced, online competitive shooter based on Quake 3 Arena, is coming to Steam, and with it are some changes designed to broaden the appeal of the game to new Quake players, the developer says. The updates to the game are significant, and include things like weapon loadouts, a new gun and other elements that "help bring Quake one step closer to being a modern shooter," id says.

Adam Pyle, producer at id Software, laid out the changes coming to Quake Live, which launched in 2010, in a forum post on the game's website.

"While Quake will always be a home to the competitive base, we have often longed for a wider audience who could experience, appreciate, and fall in love with all that it has to offer," Pyle wrote. "For new players, it has been quite clear what the greatest barriers are: effectiveness on spawn, movement, and item control. These elements on several levels also make our game great, so we wanted to see what could be done to make the game a more enjoyable experience, all while teaching players a bit of the meta-game depth."

Quake Live players will now be able to choose a primary and a secondary weapon that they can spawn with, and a weapon toggle to swap between the two. The game also has new ammo packs that are non-weapon specific and id Software has reduced spawn time on ammo packs. A new continuous bunny hop move has been added to help new players move and jump quickly by holding down the space bar. Added to the Quake Live arsenal is the Heavy Machine Gun.

There are a number of other general ruleset and gameplay changes that Pyle details in his original post. He says the changes to established Quake rules are not designed solely with the new player in mind.

"We feel that these elements overall help bring Quake one step closer to being a modern shooter, while still holding true to our roots of remaining an incredibly fast paced old school shooter," he wrote. "We've had a lot of fun with these new additions, and hope that you learn to appreciate them."

Bethesda Softworks announced that Quake Live was bound for a release on Steam at this year's Quakecon.