Unexpected but welcome news...

Jul 18, 2007 12:35 GMT  ·  By

It is unclear when or why it started, but game developers are starting to pay more attention to the Mac platform and new titles that nobody was expecting keep being announced. Such is the case of a "Game Head" video posted on Gametrailers.com, where Epic Games' VP Mark Rein announced that a Mac version of Gears of War and Unreal Tournament 3 are on their way.

Mark Rein makes the surprise announcement roughly mid-way through the video posted on Gametrailers.com when he enthusiastically says "and don't forget, we're also doing Macintosh. Yes, Gears is coming to the Mac and so is UT". Gears of War is a third-person tactical action/horror game based on the Unreal 3 engine, that has been a runaway best-seller on the XBOX 360 selling over 3.5 million copies. The Windows version of Gears of War was announced last week and Epic promises all-new content, including three new multiplayer maps, a new multiplayer game type, game editor and five new campaign chapters. Considering the Mac announcement so soon after the Windows one, it is likely that they will both be ready around the same time and chances are good that the Mac version will also see the all-new content that was initially announced for the Windows version.

This is not the only such announcement to be recently made, with EA announcing that it is porting a number of games to the Mac platform and many other developers interested in making iPod and iPhone games. Previously, the Mac platform relied on established developers such as Blizzard for high quality games, but it looks like the scene is slowly changing. No doubt, increased interest in the Mac platform and OS X is responsible for this change in attitude from game developers that have traditionally shied away from or shunned the platform.