Valve Details Mac Steam Launch, Adds Multi-SKU Purchase Feature

Ahead of tomorrow's long-awaited launch of digital distribution platform Steam on Mac computers, Valve has revealed that Runic Games' Torchlight, along with its own Portal, will be first to the service. The key detail for Steam's Mac debut is "Steam Play". Games on the service have always been tied to a user's account, not individual hardware, so that those who purchase games via Steam can play them on any computer on which they're logged in. Valve now extends this ability to Mac -- which means that those who create a Steam for Mac account will be able to play games they've already purchased on PC as soon as OS/X-compatible versions are released, and vice versa. Valve says it is "immediately" adding support for native OS/X to developers using its Source engine; it plans to release Mac-compatible versions of other catalog titles, and that "collections" of Mac titles that show off specific Steam on Mac functionalities will be released on Wednesdays following tomorrow's launch date. "Having Steam for the Mac solves so many problems for us as a developer," said Runic Games co-founder Max Schafer. "We look forward to our future games coming out on the Mac as well."