The Future of Mac Gaming

In the gaming world, there are console fanboys and stalwart PC gamers, but it seems the joke that everyone can agree on is the existence (or myth?) of the "Mac gamer." The truth for decades has been that if you were a serious video game player, you weren't playing on a Mac, or at the least couldn't rely on it exclusively else face a dearth of choices. How did this happen?

At one time, the only personal computers were Macs. That time was short-lived.

By 1990, the more mature Windows 3.0 had hit the scene, and Apple was forced to respond with cheaper Macs to face the new competition. The result was still a long slide from relevance, however, as by Windows95 "Wintel" PCs were becoming the dominant choice for most consumers. The Mac brand slid into a niche that it has never really strayed from until very recently; by 1997 there were 360 million personal computers in the world (1), but only around 5% were Apple's.

This lack of market share also meant a lack of games; with a much smaller base, less developers would be willing to go through the hassle of developing two versions of the same game if one would see few sales. Even many game developers who crafted entertainment for the Mac ported their content over to Windows eventually to capture more players.

Apple cofounder Steve Jobs' return to the company as interim (later permanent) CEO in 1997 saw an attempt to bring the Mac back to relevance in the gaming world. At the 1999 Macworld Conference & Expo, Jobs showed off the key ingredient in his plan to revitalize Mac gaming; an impressive third-person action game developed by premier Mac developer Bungie Software, going by the name "Halo" (2). Halo impressed critics and gaming fans, but it was not just Mac gamers who were watching; Apple competitor Microsoft was also impressed by Bungie's offering, and they were looking for a flagship title for their upcoming Xbox game console. In June 2000, Bungie was acquired by Microsoft in a move that startled and shocked Mac fans.

It appears Steve Jobs was steamed at Microsoft for spiriting away his crown jewel for the Mac from under his nose; former Microsoft game publishing VP Ed Fries revealed in an interview that Jobs called almost immediately announcing the deal. Fries ended up brokering a deal to port some games to the Mac to appease Jobs, calling it "a pretty strange time" (3). But the damage was done. Halo would go on to become Microsoft's flagship game, the Xbox's killer app, and a multi-billion dollar franchise that's still pumping out hits. Job's plan for the revival of Mac gaming stalled.

The following years were the nadir of Mac games, the result in part of a combination of hardware incompatibilities, software, and (according to some) a lack of support from Apple itself. The most popular PC games would make their way to the Mac, but often only months or even years after it was relevant. Only a handful of developers treated the Mac platform as an equal, most notably Blizzard Entertainment (of StarCraft and WarCraft fame). Another problem was game piracy; while piracy could hurt the sales of any video game, because the Mac market was much smaller it was also much more susceptible (4).

A number of sea changes in recent years, however, suggest that gaming might finally make a comeback on the Mac--or, at the very least, start putting Mac gamers on a more equal footing with their Windows counterparts. The first major step was when Apple ditched IBM's processors to use Intel chipsets (5). The change was big. As the majority of Windows PCs use Intel chips, a similar architecture in Macs and PCs meant one less hurdle for game developers. More crucially, Mac users could now use a program called "Boot Camp" to install a copy of Windows. Now instead of owning an entirely different machine for games, you could play them on your Mac--if you were willing to constantly restart your machine.

Despite concern that Boot Camp would erode developer willingness to develop for the Mac, it appears to have made Mac ports more attractive. Because developers do not have to rewrite much of the underlying architecture to comply with the differing platforms the potential release dates of ports are also potentially much sooner than they have been historically. Developers quickly began embracing Intel systems, showing that the switch was a smart one (6)

Even more significant was the arrival of the Steam platform to the Mac (7). Valve Software's Steam sells first- and third-party games through its own store with integrated updates and copy protection. It is widely considered one of the bastions of PC gaming, accounting for more than 70% of digital game sales, and its appearance on the Mac (as well as full support in the creation of Mac-compatible versions of its most popular games) is an incredible boon to Mac gamers (8).

Where does the Mac platform go from here? Valve is confident enough to brand 2011 the year of a Mac "gaming renaissance" (9). Key issues remain: while processor architecture is no longer an issue, Mac continues to use OpenGL for graphics instead of the more-predominant DirectX. If Apple works with invested partners in improving the Mac's performance parity with Windows, however, the future is looking bright. Perhaps in a decade, the old "Mac gamer" joke won't be repeated.

References
* (1) "Nearly 600 Million Computers-In-Use by Year 2000". Computer Industry Almanac. Retrieved January 20, 2011.
* (2) Peter Cohen (October 5, 2007). "Bungie: When It Comes to the Mac, Never Say Never". Macworld. Retrieved January 29, 2011.
* (3) Rob Crossley (October 26, 2010). "Steve Jobs 'Raged At Microsoft' Over Game Studio Sale". Develop Magazine. Retrieved January 29, 2011.
* (4) Tuncer Deniz (January 20, 2004). "Macsoft's Peter Tamte Talks Halo Piracy, Patch Issues". Inside Mac Games. Retrieved January 28, 2011.
* (5) Johnny Evans (June 6, 2005). "WWDC: Apple Confirms Move to Intel". Macworld. Retrieved January 29, 2011.
* (6) Katie Marsal (June 11, 2007). "EA's New Mac Games Will Demand Intel-Based Systems". Apple Insider. Retrieved January 29, 2011.
* (7) Scott Lowe (March 8, 2010). "The Dawn of Mac Gaming?" IGN. Retrieved January 29, 2011.
* (8) Chris Kohler (March 8, 2010). "Valve Brings Hit Games, Steam to the Mac". Wired. Retrieved January 27, 2011.
* (9) Chris Foresman (August 2010). "Mac gaming renaissance coming in 2011, powered by Steam". Arstechnica. Retrieved January 28, 2011.

Read more OS X and Gaming stories by David Fuchs: "Affordable Gaming Laptop Comparisons" / "10 of Apple's Biggest Failures" / "9 Old Computer Uses"