This is an increasingly frequent question, so I'll lay it out in detail below.
Here is how it works when buying a game on Steam:
The sale defaults to whatever platform you've purchased on. Then a calculation occurs that tracks which platform you play most in the first 7 days after that purchase. If more play time occurs on a different platform, then the sale shifts over to the most played platform. Its a really smart/fair system. Note: mobile purchases always default to Windows if the game is not played in the first 7 days.
So to recap if you want to support Mac and Linux with your purchase on Steam:
1. Buy the game through your Mac or Linux Steam client.
2. Dont play it on any other platform in the first 7 days after your purchase.
3. If you bought it on your phone, play it on Mac or Linux within 7 days of purchase.
Or you can simply buy it on GameAgent, and don't worry about any of the above since all GameAgent sales benefit Aspyr directly
This is also the case for ANY other retailer. Example: if you buy the Windows version from say Amazon, you are supporting Windows regardless of whether you actually launch the game on that platform. Steam (and Humble Bundle) are currently the ONLY outlets that have platform detection.
thanks blair. does it have to be listed as steamplay when i buy it?
one thing that often happens for example is,
i see a game on sale on steam which is pc only. i buy it, maybe because ive seen on the steam database thread on insidemacgames that its coming out for mac, maybe ive just bought it because it looks good but dont get around to installing it yet.
or to be more pertinent to this thread, say i purchase civ beyond earth, which we know is coming out for mac but isnt yet.
at a later stage, maybe only a few weeks later, maybe 6 months later it changes to steam play, and i install it and only play it for mac.
in that case would you get anything?
