14 DAY TRIAL // Mythic Entertainment has confirmed that Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (WAR) is heading to Mac OS X. A beta version of the Mac client is now available to both existing WAR account holders as well as to new players. The 10-day trial version of WAR is available for free download right here on Softpedia.
The Mac version of WAR is scheduled for a fall 2009 release. The game’s online features will be cross-platform, meaning both Mac and PC gamers will be able to battle it out on the same servers. Moreover, Mythic Entertainment says, the Mac beta of Warhammer Online will allow current players to download a client to their Macs and play with their live game accounts. Those who participate in the beta will receive an exclusive title and trophy reward for their characters within the game, the company claims.
"The MMORPG audience continues to expand, and that means gamers eager to experience WAR aren't all playing on a PC," said Jeff Hickman, executive producer of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. "We want as many players as possible to experience the glory of Realm vs. Realm combat, and bringing WAR to the Mac makes this an exciting reality."
As with other Windows games that were eventually ported to the Mac, TransGaming’s Cider Portability Engine was used to bring the popular MMORPG to Apple gamers. The software is described as acting as a "wrapper" around the game software, enabling it to run on Intel-based Macs seamlessly.
"The availability of WAR on Mac is an outstanding example of the caliber of games being deployed for the Mac gaming community," commented Vikas Gupta, CEO and president of TransGaming. "Mythic Entertainment has created an incredible game and TransGaming is thrilled they have chosen our advanced Cider technology to launch WAR for the Mac."
To download and play Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning on a Mac, gamers need Mac OS X 10.5.7 Leopard or higher, an Intel Core Duo processor, 2 gigs of RAM and a supported video card with at least 128 MB of Video RAM. Supported video cards include ATI X1600 and the Nvidia 7300 GT (numerous others are listed on the Warhammer Online web site). As the title requires an Intel processor, WAR will not run on PowerPC (G3/G4/G5)-based Macs. Also, the Intel GMA 950 or X3100 class of integrated video cards are not supported.
Download Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning 1.0 Mac Beta (Free)