Valve to Release Mac OS Graphics Code to Steamworks Partners

Valve brings more good news for Mac gamers today as the company has revealed it will "provide a portion" of its graphics code to developers looking to create Mac OS versions of their games. In an upcoming interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Valve's business development director Jason Holtman said the aid will be provided to devs who plan to use the Steamworks community infrastructure. Valve's reasoning for the move is to help studios expedite development of the Mac OS "graphics layer," which Holtman calls "the real hard work in making a Mac version" of games.

"So our Steamworks partners will have access to some of the hard work that we do to get our games up on Mac, and they'll be able to incorporate that into their games--and our hope is it gets them there faster," Holtman said. Valve released a Mac version of its popular digital distribution platform Steam for Mac users in May 2010. The code sharing decision will hopefully lead to more gaming options for dedicated Mac users and shorter wait times for fresh titles.

According to Holtman, Steam games that have added Mac versions to their catalog have enjoyed a significant boost in combined platform sales. "We're seeing between a 15 and 20 percent increase in games that have a Mac version on Steam. So some of our baseline games with added Mac versions, they're seeing quite a healthy bump in people picking up their title." No time-frame for the Mac code sharing was indicated in the article.

Of course, Valve isn't the only company with a fondness for Apple products, as Blizzard's highly-anticipated StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is currently available on PC and Mac in one retail or digital package.