Valve Cuts Prices on Mac OS X Games Through Steam

Video games studio Valve Software has announced a massive discount on a plurality of games distributed through Steam on the Macintosh platform.

This huge Steam sale features almost every game for at least 30% off. Some titles are discounted as much as 75%.

Some highlights include: Half Life 2 for $2.49; Portal 2 for $33.49; Civilization V for $33.49; Left for Dead 2 for $13.39; Hoard for $2.99; Plants vs Zombies for $3.39; Gary’s Mod for $2.49.

Other popular games being sold for a tad less than their original shipping price include Assassin's Creed 2 Deluxe Edition, Sid Meier's Civilization V, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction, Sam & Max: Season Two, Counter-Strike: Source + Garry's Mod, and Penumbra Collector Pack.

The games are digital download only, and Mac users need Steam not only to grab the bits from Valve’s servers, but also to play the actual content, whether single player, or online.

Released for Mac in 2010 with free distribution of the highly-acclaimed Portal, Steam is Valve’s digital distribution, digital rights management, multiplayer and communications platform.

From small independent developers to larger software houses, many Windows PC and Mac games can be found on the platform.

The focus remains Windows PC, but the Macintosh gamer base is growing as well, making it more and more relevant for Valve to offer new content, and even exclusives.

As of June 2011, there are over 1,250 games available through Steam for all supported platforms, which includes Sony’s popular video game console, the PlayStation 3.

Stardock, a platform competing with Steam, has estimated that Valve’s digital distribution platform has roughly 70% share of the market.

Major publishers who have large catalogues available on Steam include Bethesda Softworks, Electronic Arts, Activision, Rockstar Games, Telltale Games and, of course, Valve themselves.