John Carmack of id Software has revealed they wanted to developer the free-to-play web browser shooter to show what the PC can do, and consoles can’t.
Triple-A projects tend to be ”more console-centric, with the PC as a peer,” but Quake Live can only be accomplished on desktops. Mac and Linux support on ”priority list”.
”A lot of this project was about doing something that the PC was going to be better at than the consoles,” Carmack tells Gamasutra.
”Our modern triple-A stuff has to be somewhat more console-centric, with the PC as a peer, while this is an opportunity to do something where the PC will really stand alone.”
The PC is still the frontrunner when it comes to web browsing and Quake Live’s intimate relationship with browsers is why the project can only be accomplished on PC.
”The core concept here is that one of the major things that PCs do much better than consoles is the web browsing experience… PCs are still just plain better than consoles at that.”
The online PC community is much more connected through the web than consoles and so is perfect to help bolster interest and numbers for Quake Live. ”For years, I’ve often thought about the fact that a lot of people spend vastly more time on websites and forums about the games that they’re playing than they actually spend playing the games themselves,” he adds. ”We hope to have some aspect of that here.”
Speaking with Joystiq, Carmack reveals that ”it’s pretty high on my priority list to have the Mac and Linux support.” With the options smaller on the two platforms for other games and services, id hopes it will help concentrate support for Quake Live.
