Massively popular online games distribution platform Steam is headed for computers running Apple’s Mac OS X in the near future. Developer Valve Software plans to release native Mac versions of all of its games, including the upcoming and highly anticipated Portal 2, which it will release for Mac and PC computers simultaneously.
Valve’s first-person shooter games are among the most popular on the PC platform, and they include the entire Half-Life series, Team Fortress 2, Portal and both Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2.
This news isn’t a surprise; Valve teased it last week with a series of images mixing Valve properties like Steam and Half-Life’s Gordon Freeman in with classic Mac ad mock-ups. What’s really cool and unexpected: When you buy a Steam game that’s available for both Mac and PC, you’re buying a license to the game on both platforms, so if you have a mix of PC and Mac computers in your life, you can play on all your machines.
We’re not sure yet whether Mac and PC users will be able to play online together, but because the developer framework is so closely tied (as Joystiq reports) we wouldn’t be surprised. Stay tuned for updates!
Reviews: Steam
Tags: apple, gaming, half-life, mac, portal 2, source engine, steam, valve software, video games
