As much fun as it is to decipher cryptic radio messages and scour forums for the latest buzz, good hard facts are necessary to keep the sanity. Valve and Steam are finally ready to break down what to make of one of their latest rumors. By now, most of you are aware that Steam will be making its debut on Mac with the announcement of Portal 2 being the first new title to strut its stuff on the aforementioned platform. Now it appears Portal 2 will have some familiar company in a new home when it launches later this year.

The non too subtle Valve-esque Mac ads should clue you in as to what classic Valve titles will showcase on the Mac when Steam launches this coming April.  The list of titles is to include: Left 4 Dead 2, Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike, Portal and the Half-Life series. Portal 2 Project lead Josh Weier notes that, “Checking in code produces a PC build and Mac build at the same time, automatically, so the two platforms are perfectly in lock-step. We’re always playing a native version on the Mac right alongside the PC. This makes it very easy for us and for anyone using Source to do game development for the Mac.” It seems logical to draw the conclusion that third party developers will step up to the plate now that Valve is really blazing a trail, but only time will tell. While Valve’s attempts may not legitimize the Mac as a gaming platform, I’m still excited to be able to use my 27-inch iMac for something other than a pretty display.

One last note from John Cook, Director of Steam Development, “Mac and Windows players will be part of the same multiplayer universe, sharing servers, lobbies, and so forth.” Ah, yes…at long last, Mac and PC users will be able to do more than just verbally assault one another, now they will have a virtual battlefield to alleviate their tensions. The battle, so it seems, is just beginning.

You might also like:

1. Valve/Portal/Steam Update
2. Valve announces Team Fortress 2 Wiki and “Oncoming Storm”
3. (Update) Valve completes Orange Box experience for Mac with Team Fortress 2
4. Portal 2 will in fact appear on Mac
5. Game Informer spoils Valve announcement, Portal 2 on its way

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