Aspyr have confirmed that the long awaited Civilization V for Mac will be released next week on 23rd of November but the big question now is whether it will be released on Steam or not. If you’re one of those that wants to see it released on the gaming platform, you can encourage Aspyr to do so here in a blog post encouraging feedback on the issue.
What’s stimulating most debate is whether users that have already purchased Civ V via Steam on PC, should also get the Mac version for free via SteamPlay or whether they’d be happy to purchase it separately to play using Boot Camp instead. Aspyr tested the water by asking:
We are still weighing the options but out of curiosity, how many of you have already purchased the PC version and expect a free Mac version? Did you purchase it on the PC to play via BootCamp in hopes you’d get the Mac version? Or did you purchase on the PC and just assumed you’d get a Mac version? Wondering what the expectation is out there.
They’ve also stressed that:
Civilization V Mac will feature SteamWorks, the DRM and playing experience will be exactly the same no matter where you purchase the game, disc or download.
As might be expected, user feedback has been overwhelmingly in favor of a free Steam release for Mac for those that have purchased the PC version. It only seems fair that is the case since that’s what happens with other games that have been released on SteamPlay, so why should Civ 5 on Mac be any different?
