As a concept, Quake Live is fairly simple to describe: Quake III Arena, for free, in a web browser. As a phenomenon, it goes much deeper. Quake Live is a step into new, experimental territory.
Nine years on, a significant number of gamers still play the increasingly modded Quake III, suggesting there's no reason why it shouldn't pick up a new following. Much of the modding has been incorporated into the Live version, along with aesthetic improvements. "The designers have given it a spruce up," says John Carmack. "They've gone through and touched up every map in there, touched up the model skins, so it's a little bit more polished, but it's still the same game. Just with the nine years of aggregate finessing that the community has decided was the better way of doing things."