Though Mac users can fairly easily reboot into Windows these days, having a game running natively on OSX is always preferable. So for Mac gamers, however much that sounds like an oxymoron, it’s great new that Titanfall is getting set to make that jump, as revealed when Vince Zampella responded to a question on twitter yesterday.
@TZB17 We are talking to Aspyr, they should do it
— Vince Zampella (@VinceZampella) March 13, 2014
Though still a niche market when compared to PC gaming, not to mention consoles, the barriers for porting games across aren’t as high as they once were. It’s been almost a decade since the jump from PowerPC to x86 and Intel CPUs, Valve’s Steam platform and the Source Engine have been running natively for the last 4 years, and even EA’s Origin platform has been on OSX for a while.
However, it still makes sense for EA to enlist a known quantity and experienced porting house like Aspyr, just as Bluepoint have been handling the Xbox 360 version of the game. Respawn are still busying themselves with hunting for optimisations on Xbox One and starting to prepare DLC content, so letting Aspyr handle a job they are much more familiar with is a logical step to getting the best possible release on OSX.
The biggest unknown in all of this is how it fits in with the exclusivity deal between EA and Microsoft. You would now have to assume that this deal was based primarily around the console market, and so would not have really factored into the decision to bring the game to PC or play a role in this port to Mac. What isn’t clear is how the use of Microsoft’s Azure cloud servers comes into it, as these provide the backbone to the game’s online matches and would surely do the same job for a Mac release.
We’ll see how things pan out, but it’s certainly a curious little wrinkle in the story.
Source: Vince Zampella
double-o-dave
I was wandering about the exclusivity issue before I got to the last paragraph. I thought the game would be exclusive only to Microsoft, I didn’t realise they’d be able to block Sony but not Apple even though it may differ from a console to PC. Sounds strange to me… Admittingly I know nothing about the legalities of it so I guess they can.
Amphlett
I don’t think it would take much to block a port/release on Playstation, just an agreement in principle and then written in to the contract with some sweeteners going either way across the table to keep both parties happy.
TSBonyman
From what i’ve read, EA aren’t too overjoyed that they made less on the exclusivity deal than they could have made with potential PS3/PS4 sales added into the mix, so it probably makes sense for them to try to get it out on every and any available platform while the console exclusivity stands.
JR.
Damn. I’m sure this is great news for Mac people who want to play Titanfall but I was hoping to hear the last of this game before the month was through. Intrusive pop up ads and six gushing articles a day on most of the top gaming sites is a tad over the top no matter how great a game is. If it’s good it will sell itself through word of mouth. No need to indoctrinate people.
Tedbaker
Blocking releases on competitors consoles is anti consumer and illegal. I really don’t care about titanfall Xbox one or anything Microsoft has to offer, but u am hearing some noise that suggests taking bungs to fake console exclusivity is being investigated in the US and EU, and that Microsoft, rockstar, EA are the main targets
plutoniumdragon
This might be an unpopular opinion, but this sort of quasi-government interference annoys me greatly.
Exclusivity deals may make sound business sense, if they are tied to an advertising deal for instance. Why would you want your advertising budget funding a competitor’s sales?
Yes it’s possibly anti consumer, but the best way is to deal with it is education and let the consumers speak with their wallets.
Interference really helped the consumer in the UK football TV rights market didn’t it?