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Mac gamers: Support Steam for Mac!

A

Ack

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 15, 2009
61
0
As everyone here most likely already knows, Steam for Mac is set to release tomorrow (May 12) and this is a huge turning point for gaming on the Mac. The success or failure of this business venture for Valve will determine how much Valve, other publishers, and Apple themselves support gaming on the Mac in the coming years. I urge everyone reading this to buy at least one Mac game through Steam on opening day, and to continue buying new games as they are released for Mac over the next few weeks.

Valve will be watching the sales numbers to determine whether to continue Steam for Mac and how much effort to put into supporting and improving it.

Publishers will be watching the sales numbers to determine whether to develop Mac versions of their new games, and how much effort they should spend on supporting and improving them.

Apple will be watching the sales numbers to determine how important gaming is to their users and how much effort they should put into improving OpenGL drivers, offering higher-end GPUs, and doing other things to support gaming on the Mac.

Let's all buy some games and give them some sales numbers that will make everyone stand up and take notice! The amount of Mac sales done through Steam in the next few months could make the difference between whether or not we'll all have to keep Boot Camp installed for the next 10 years.

Buy some games through Steam tomorrow and spread the word to other Mac communities you frequent.
 
Rodus

Rodus

macrumors 6502a
Oct 25, 2008
679
0
Midlands, UK
An awful lot of Mac gamers are running Valve games under Bootcamp so although they will probably download the Mac ported Valve catalog, Valve won't make any money from this if they already own the PC version. I think it'll take a while for the money to start coming in from Mac users. You are right though, this is great news for us Mac gamers and we should support Valve wholeheartedly.
 
MacsRgr8

MacsRgr8

macrumors G3
Sep 8, 2002
8,284
1,753
The Netherlands
I hear you, Ack!
And I'm in :)

As I said in another thread regarding Steam 2 Mac, I am more than happy to pay again for Half Life 2! :)

Steam coming 2 Mac really is a dream come true. Who would have thought a few years ago, eh? :apple:
 
DarkCloud2015

DarkCloud2015

macrumors member
Feb 27, 2010
77
0
I for one am leaving behind my torrenting for games days and fully committed to supporting Valve by buying any and every game that grabs my eye. I'll probably be picking up Portal as soon as Steam launches LOL
 
runebinder

runebinder

macrumors 6502a
Apr 2, 2009
904
121
Nottingham, UK
Rodus said:
An awful lot of Mac gamers are running Valve games under Bootcamp so although they will probably download the Mac ported Valve catalog, Valve won't make any money from this if they already own the PC version. I think it'll take a while for the money to start coming in from Mac users. You are right though, this is great news for us Mac gamers and we should support Valve wholeheartedly.
Click to expand...

Yup, Valve hopefully will monitor the amount of downloads, if they can show a fair amount of users on OS X then that will be good for future marketing. Would say though, any future Steam purchases I make will be done through the Steam client for Mac if they're available for both.
 
txa1265

txa1265

macrumors 65816
Aug 15, 2002
1,035
291
Corning, NY
As others have said, the early days will show some combination of 'activity' combined with new purchases to help Valve & Apple understand how many PC gamers are also Mac gamers ... and how many folks have held out for Steam on Mac.

Given my couple hundred Steam games ... it will probably be a while before I can buy anything new :)
 
0098386

0098386

Suspended
Jan 18, 2005
21,574
2,908
As someone with 120 or so Steam games, no I'm not buying anything else :p.
 
S

Selenica

macrumors newbie
May 11, 2010
20
0
The money will come if Valve can persuade other developers to release Mac clients through Steam. There are more than a few upcoming games that I'd like to play on my Mac. Star Wars: The Old Republic, in particular!
 
A

Ack

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 15, 2009
61
0
Selenica said:
The money will come if Valve can persuade other developers to release Mac clients through Steam. There are more than a few upcoming games that I'd like to play on my Mac. Star Wars: The Old Republic, in particular!
Click to expand...

Yes, but it's kind of a chicken and egg scenario. People will buy Mac games if more developers release Mac versions, and more developers will release Mac versions if they see that people are buying Mac games...

I'm sure they'll also be tracking the number of people who already own PC versions and are now downloading and playing Mac versions. Still, I'd encourage anyone who can find a Mac Steam game they don't own to scrape together some money and do some buying during the first week or two. Nothing speaks to corporations like cold hard revenue numbers.

Of course, it won't hurt to also download and play any games you already own through the Mac client and get those Steam for Mac player numbers up. (Like you weren't all planning to do that already! ;) )
 
txa1265

txa1265

macrumors 65816
Aug 15, 2002
1,035
291
Corning, NY
Dagless said:
As someone with 120 or so Steam games, no I'm not buying anything else :p.
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I'm wondering how things will register in the future, though - if I buy Portal 2 through my Mac account will it be noted as a 'Mac sale' for statistics? I know it shouldn't matter ... but I simultaneously want the best experience and also to support Mac gaming.

Also ... am I just a foolish optimist for holding out hope that the abysmal lack of communication and support for Dragon Age is because they're going to release it through Steam for Mac? Probably ...
 
C

Cougarcat

macrumors 604
Sep 19, 2003
7,766
2,553
txa1265 said:
I'm wondering how things will register in the future, though - if I buy Portal 2 through my Mac account will it be noted as a 'Mac sale' for statistics?
Click to expand...

Well, Valve can tell if you download the Mac or PC binaries, so yes, your sale will register.
 
b0tt094

b0tt094

macrumors 6502
Sep 2, 2006
402
0
If l4d2 goes on sale when steam for mac comes out I plan on buying that (I'm writing this on my Windows partition after playing Killing floor on steam :p)
 
A

airwalke

macrumors member
Jul 11, 2004
65
0
Plutonius said:
Sorry, I only have time for one game and it's World of Warcraft.
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You know, in some ways I envy you, but in others, I completely abhor this comment.

I envy you because I hardly spent any money on games when my full attention was dedicated towards WoW. Now that I've stopped playing, I'm probably spending/have spent an average of $25-30 a month on games alone.

On the other hand... man, expand your horizons, there are other games out there besides WoW! ;)

EDIT: And I echo the OP, support Valve/Steam for Mac! Blizzard's dedication towards providing Mac support has been about the only thing keeping Mac gaming alive... Valve's continued support is an absolute must if the platform is to progress. Plus, all those Linux gamers are praying that the Steam experiment pans out so that there's greater OpenGL support for gaming on their side.
 
2

256bit

macrumors member
Feb 22, 2010
59
0
Buying L4D2 four pack as soon as it's mac ready, one of 'em is for a fellow mac gamer as well. That's one new steam gamer. (Valve you're welcome:rolleyes:)
 
mox358

mox358

macrumors 6502a
May 22, 2002
555
407
Indiana
Totally agree with this. I've missed out on a lot of Valve games I intend on purchasing once I get a new iMac that will run them... Hopefully sooner than later.

It's great knowing they'll be available and I fully plan on buying a lot of them, and maybe a lot more in the future depending on how fully the Mac store gets filled up by third parties.
 
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