After several weeks of speculation,that its digital distribution service for games, Steam, would be coming to Macs. The software serves as Valve's exclusive digital delivery system for its suite of titles, including Team Fortress 2 and Portal, as well as an array of AAA titles from publishers like EA, Activision, Capcom and more. According to the announcement from Valve, the Mac variation of Steam will serve native Mac software, not inconsistent, processor-taxing emulators. The announcement of Steam for Mac marks a huge advancement for gaming on Apple computers, which had otherwise been perceived to be poor gaming machines. Could this be the dawn of Mac gaming as a viable software platform?

As it currently stands, the number of developers that produce games either exclusively for Mac, or simultaneously with Windows versions, is extremely limited. Among those who produce titles for Mac are Blizzard and, curiously enough, Microsoft, but their efforts are clearly more focused on Windows products. Alternatively, developers have sought third-party porting services to bring their titles to Mac, although such services are inefficient due to release delays, licensing and technical issues. Apple gained some ground in the gaming space with the inclusion of Boot Camp, which allows for the partitioned use of Windows in their latest, Intel-powered machines. While Boot Camp essentially allows Mac owners the ability to play any Windows game, it requires the purchase of a full Windows OS and a partitioned reboot of their system – far from an ideal solutionWhy are games for Mac so hard to find? One argument has been that Apple machines are underpowered, so much so that they can't run complex 3D games. While that may have been true in the past, nothing could be further from the truth today. Apple laptops and computers are powered by integrated and dedicated graphics processors from NVIDIA, ranging from the 9400M in MacBook Pros to ATI Radeon 4670 in the Mac Pro towers. The other, more accurate, argument is that Mac operating systems command a comparably small global market share of roughly five percent.

While five percent of a global demographic is nothing to scoff at, committing resources to tailor content to an even smaller subset of users within that minority can be tough to justify. Retailers also recognize the smaller market impact of Mac games, and have subsequently limited retail placement for Mac titles, ported or otherwise. Without a sizable distribution structure, outside of Apple itself, of course, sales of Mac games are understandably low.Steam could be the key to expanding the Mac platform.Valve will be taking the first step by offering their largest titles in native Apple formats when the service arrives in April, but they'll also be following it with the day one, cross-platform release of Portal 2 this Fall. But Valve's strategy goes beyond offering content and a method of delivery on Macs, they are taking an aggressive value-added approach by offering cross-platform purchases and multiplayer integration. In other words, when you download a game on Steam for Mac, the Windows version will also be available to you free of charge and you will be able to play multiplayer games with friends who use Windows machines on your Mac.As has always been the case, the success of Mac gaming relies on the efforts of publishers, but with Steam, they have a new, direct method of delivery that could turn the tide.