14 DAY TRIAL // Quazal, a supplier of multiplayer middleware solutions for the entertainment industry and maker of the award-winning Net-Z, Rendez-Vous and Spark! online multiplayer middleware, have recently gone public on their latest move concerning Mac OS X support. The company has confirmed adding Mac OS X to their list of supported platforms.
"With the growth of the Mac audience, the quality of the OS X platform, and the increasing interest of game publishers catering to that audience, Quazal has seen the need for a version of their technologies and services on Mac," says Sylvain Beaudry, president at Quazal.
As you can imagine, by releasing a Mac version of Net-Z, Rendez-Vous and Spark!, Quazal is now making all of the features and flexibility that they've become known for on PC and consoles to the Mac userbase. More than that, developers can even allow for PC/Mac cross-platform play. Net-Z, Rendez-Vous and Spark! are now available for both Tiger and Leopard users.
"It's often a challenge to find proven game development technologies on the Mac, and this will definitely help to bring more games with rich online experiences to the platform", says Justin D'Onofrio, Producer at game developer Freeverse. "We are really happy to be early adopters and help Quazal provide their product to the Mac development community."
As I'm sure that not everyone is familiar with multiplayer middleware solution supplier, readers should know that Quazal revolutionized network programming by rendering obsolete the traditional packet/socket paradigm. World-class publishers, such as EA, Vivendi, Capcom, Eidos, Midway, CodeMasters, THQ and Ubisoft, are said to be joining the ranks of studios and independent developers that already "use Quazal's products to propel today's most successful multiplayer games," according to a recent press release.
Since the company's feat back in 2000, Quazal has been offering encompasses in-game network engines, hosted game lobbies and technical services. Currently, their products are aimed at both gaming consoles and PCs running Mac OS X, Windows and Linux.