One purchase for both platforms, each is native

Electronic Arts, which has been embroiled in controversy over its botched launch of SimCity for Windows and was recently named "Worst Company in America" for the second year running, has confirmed that the Mac version of the latest instalment will launch on June 11. The Mac version is a native app, rewritten for OpenGL so that players get the best possible experience on the Mac. The news will be welcomed by Mac owners who already bought the PC copy, as they can get the Mac version free on EA's online portal Origin.

The game, which requires an always-on connection that has been a sore point for early adopters, is also likely to have finally worked out the poor performance and server issues early PC buyers saw on its debut by the time June rolls around. Users who want to score a deal on the Mac version can buy a copy of the PC game now for as little as $32 (from Gamefly.com, with coupon code GFDAPR20), nearly half off the suggested retail price.

EA said the decision to make the purchase universal for both Mac and Windows buyers, as well as create native versions for each platform, was a result of the team not wanting "to make any compromises when it came to the Mac, so we created a native version that is optimized for the hardware and OS X ... its entire software renderer was rewritten for OpenGL." Players can play online across platforms and on the same servers, with Origin users able to use the same account on both platforms. Origin is currently running a half-off sale on 12 of its Mac titles, including Batman: Arkham City Game of the Year Edition, Portal 2, Dragon Age 2, The Sims 3 and Spore.

by MacNN Staff