Valve says that, in addition to the games launching tomorrow, on "subsequent Wednesdays, additional collections of Mac titles will become available, each designed to highlight specific functionalities of Steam on the Mac." The first collection will highlight "Steam Play," meaning games that work on all "Steam supported platforms," currently Windows and Mac OS. Valve identified its own Portal and the Diablo-esque Torchlight as launch titles, the only two to be officially announced.
The Steam for Mac beta client reveals over three dozen "Mac games," all currently available via Steam on Windows. Notable entries include LucasArts classics like The Dig, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, and Loom, some of Telltale's episodic offerings, including the most recent installment of Sam & Max and the entire first season of Tales of Monkey Island, and several PopCap titles, like Peggle Deluxe, Peggle Nights, and Bejeweled 2. Also listed and currently playable (unlike every other listing in the Mac beta, short of Portal) is Team Fortress 2, though it's curiously not mentioned in Valve's press release which heralds Portal as "the first of Valve's Source engine based games available on the Mac."
Notably still missing from this list are Valve's Half-Life and Left 4 Dead series, PopCap's already-Mac-compatible Plants vs. Zombies, and plenty of other Mac-compatible titles currently on Steam. This forum thread has a nice list of potential Steam Mac games, and we've asked Valve to comment on how many of the currently listed games will be available tomorrow. Check out of a screenshot of the Mac store, as it looks today in its beta state, after the break.
STEAM FOR MAC LAUNCH DETAILS REVEALED
Roll Out Begins Weds, May 12
May 11, 2010 - Valve announced that Steam will launch on the Mac platform this Wednesday, May 12.
On subsequent Wednesdays, additional collections of Mac titles will become available, each designed to highlight specific functionalities of Steam on the Mac.
The first collection of Mac titles will demonstrate "Steam Play," which allows customers to purchase a game once and play it on all Steam supported platforms. Gamers who have previously purchased games on Steam will find them available in their account on the Mac as they are released.
Portal, in addition to supporting Steam Play, will be the first of Valve's Source engine based games available on the Mac. Native OS/X support for the Source engine is also available immediately to licensees for use in their games.
Among the initial titles available on Wednesday will be Runic Games' critically acclaimed Torchlight. "We're very excited to be bringing Torchlight to the Mac," said Max Schaefer, co-founder of Runic Games. "Having Steam for the Mac solves so many problems for us as a developer. We look forward to our future games coming out on the Mac as well."
In addition to bringing the online functionality of Steam to the Mac, Valve will also make its Steamworks suite of publishing and development tools available on the Mac platform. These include product key authentication, copy protection, auto-updating, social networking, matchmaking, anti-cheat technology, and more. The features and services available in Steamworks are offered free of charge and may be used for both electronic and tangible versions of games.
For more information on Steam, please visit www.steamgames.com.
About Steam
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