Mac Game Publisher Aspyr Fires Half Crew

The folks at Big Download have learned “through several unnamed but reliable sources” that the publisher of multiple Mac game ports, Aspyr Media, laid off roughly 50 per cent of its staff two weeks ago, with the news hitting the wires just now. Reportedly, the maker of the GameAgent utility now has only a handful of technicians and developers to keep the business going.

Citing the aforementioned unknown yet trusty sources, Big Download reveals to the world that, “Austin, Texas based game publisher Aspyr Media has laid off a large amount of its team members a couple of weeks ago. One of our sources estimated that over 50 percent of the workers were let go with only a handful of team members now remaining in the offices.”

For those who are not very familiar with Aspyr Media, it is a company that specializes in porting popular Windows games to Mac OS X. Dealing with video games since 1996, Aspyr has worked with partners like Universal, Paramount, Warner Bros., LucasArts, Electronic Arts, Activision and Eidos. As of 2003, Aspyr has owned 60 percent of the Mac entertainment market.

In recent years, the company has started porting console games to Windows and the Game Boy Advance, as well as publishing some of them. Aspyr is also known for having produced and distributed several albums and documentaries, and still does to this day. The video-game expert has been using SecuROM copy protection on PC game discs, including the likes of Stubbs the Zombie and Dreamfall.

Also developed by the company is the “Aspyr Game Agent,” a utility that compares the specifications of a gamer’s Mac to the minimum requirements of their titles. It also functions as an online store for fans of Aspyr's Macintosh catalog. A list of games ported by Aspyr media to the Macintosh platform can be found here.