Quake Live will become a downloadable game by the end of this year, and the new client will drop native support for Linux and Mac platforms, according to a news post on the game's official forum.

Linux and Mac players with paid subscriptions will only be able to play through emulation or virtualization software. Reports from testers indicate that the free-to-play game does run in virtual machines.

The developer explained that the change to a standalone product is necessary because of diverging web browser roadmaps.

"Over the past few years, browser support for plugins such as Quake Live have dropped off significantly, causing problems for plugins to operate in a consistent and working manner," the post reads. "With the recent announcement of Google Chrome's roadmap to turning off plugin support and the upcoming changes in Firefox, it seems that now is the time to make the transition."

When the change happens later this year, Quake Live players will need to log into the website as they normally would, where they'll be prompted to download the new Quake Live Launcher. The new software will present users with an embedded website and interface similar to how it looks and operates today. Developer id Software also expects players to receive a few benefits from the change, including the ability to get in and out of matches faster and view server pings before joining games.

Quake Live players can sign up for the Launcher's beta in the game's Subscriber Only forum.