EA launches Origin client for Mac

Digital distribution platform Origin for Mac from EA was launched today; this was first noted by AppleInsider. The Origin for the Mac was originally announced in August, 2011 and began to undergo alpha testing in late January.

Origin is very similar to the Steam platform from Valve. It allows users to download games and demos, chatting with friends and continue saved games from most computers.

48 Mac games are currently available for download including such games as Batman: Arkham City Game of the Year Edition, LEGO Batman, Harry Potter and Star Wars, Tropico 3: Gold Edition and The Sims 3 as well as a huge number of expansion packs. The new version of SimCity will be launched after the game's release for the PC.

Mike Blank, EA Origin Vice President of Production, told AppleInsider that EA has included support for Origin for Mac due to two reasons: growing Mac products on the market and an active community of Mac players.

"We're seeing increased activity from our Mac gamers," he said. "In the past, we've brought games slower to market for Mac than for PC partly because the audience hasn't been at the same level. The growth of iOS and Mac devices, though, means we're starting to see gamers demand to play their games on devices that are becoming more prominent. I think, across the board, developers have focused on the PC platform, but I think you're going to start seeing some changes there. [Origin] is the first step in a strategy you're going to start seeing coming out of EA."

Origin for Mac is available for free download on EA Origin web-site. It requires OS X 10.6.8 or later and an Intel Core 2 Duo processor.