14 DAY TRIAL // TransGaming launched a beta for GameTree Online earlier this year, making Tuesday's announcement the official unveiling of the distribution portal website for Mac games. The company leverages its proprietary virtualization technology, Cider, to port Windows-original games to Intel Macs.
"Our GameTree Online launch marks the new age of Mac gaming around the world, and will make it easier than ever for Mac consumers to enjoy the games they love. We are expanding our current relationships with leading publishers and developers beyond Mac enablement, with our Cider Portability Engine, to offer our partners a global distribution strategy that meets the rapidly expanding consumer demand. This allows greater revenue generation opportunities for all parties," commented Vikas Gupta, CEO & President of TransGaming Technologies.
The man also notes in a press release that Cider has become the industry standard for Mac gaming. Thus, the company is planning to release new titles "regularly," using GameTree Online, but also to establish a strong position in the market "as the leaders in Mac games digital distribution."
The company also claims GameTree Online will offer publishers and developers a cost-effective channel to distribute titles never released for Mac. Entire back catalogs of games will now be "Ciderized" and digitally distributed on GameTree Online, TransGaming confidently states, while the company plans to enter into digital distribution agreements with publishers and developers owning popular Mac titles only available in select countries, or through traditional "brick'n'mortar retail."
TransGaming explains its move noting that the Mac user community currently has the highest broadband utilization of any desktop computer demographic. This makes the launch of a service like GameTree Online "a timely and logical step in the evolution of serving the Mac community," the company says.
TransGaming is responsible for Mac game releases such as CCP Games' online role playing game EVE Online and EA's 2007 games released for Mac. TransGaming wants publishers to use Cider and have as many titles as possible distributed through GameTree Online.