Last week, Valve launched the Mac version of Steam, their popular content distribution platform. Since its launch in 2003, Steam has allowed users to instantly purchase and download games in an easily organized and updated system. While Steam for Mac does not offer all the games the Windows version does, there are over seventy available now, with new titles being added weekly to the service. Any games developed by Valve will, from now, be released simultaneously on Mac and PC.
One of Steam for Mac’s touted features is its cross-compatibility with other platforms. Multiplayer games pit PC and Mac users against each other to truly see which platform has the better gamers. In addition, using the Steam Cloud, save games and multiplayer rankings are automatically uploaded and accessed. Once a game is purchased, it can be installed on multiple computers. Users can continue a game, started on your PC gaming rig, on their MacBook minutes later.
As a promotion for the launch, Valve is currently offering one of their most popular titles, Portal, for free download until May 24th. Portal topped critic’s best of the year lists in 2007, and has a sequel coming out later this year.
Steam is a free download from steampowered.com.
