Adding to our ongoing coverage of Mac announcements, EVE Online developer CCP today announced a deal to bring its online space MMO to the Mac and Linux platforms later this year.

The move is the result of a partnership with TransGaming, a Canadian company specializing in platform redevelopment. EVE Online was already playable on Linux through Cedega, a Windows shell for Linux users. Now the game will be totally converted using TransGaming's tasty Cider engine.

"By integrating TransGaming's excellent technology, we are able to keep our laser-focus on evolving EVE Online, while simultaneously expanding the EVE universe to even more players," quipped CCP chief technical officer Halldor Fannar.

The company has always utilized free trials of the game to reach more players. In the growing MMO market, EVE has been one of the few titles to show consistent, if modest growth.

CCP communications director Valerie Massey put it this way in a recent Shacknews interview: "The population of Iceland is 300,000. We have about 200,000 EVE players. So our goal is to get [beyond that]."