EA to revamp Mac games library

Redwood City (CA) - Electronic Arts has announced that it will bring a handful of its PC game titles to the Mac, and promises to offer simultaneous releases on both platforms in the future.

This summer, EA will bring Command & Conquer 3, Battlefield 2142, Need For Speed Carbon, and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix to the Mac OS X platform for the first time.

The new Mac-centric initiative comes from a new partnership between EA and TransGaming, a technology firm specializing in software portability engines.

TransGaming’s most recent development, the Cider engine, makes it much easier for programmers to port PC applications to the Mac. Cider "will dramatically decrease the time it will take to bring EA’s hit portfolio of games to a thirsty Mac market," said TransGaming CEO Vikas Gupta in a GamesIndustry.biz quote.

EA said it will bring more catalog PC titles to the Mac in the months to come. In addition, the upcoming releases of EA’s Madden NFL 08 and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 will be released for the Mac and PC on the same day.