EverQuest Coming to Mac OS X

Anonymous Coward writes "EverQuest is coming to a Mac near you, as reported on GameSpot. Sony is planning to release it on Mac OS X sometime next year. You can also find details on Apple's website. Scott McDaniel, vice president of marketing for Sony Online said 'Combine the power and stability of Mac OS X with Apple's outstanding desktop systems and you've got an incredible gaming environment that'll take full advantage of EverQuest's huge and seamless 3D world.' (sounds good to me =)"

Comments

Odd timing.

[EvilBastard]

It's getting launched at pretty much the same time Everquest 2 is ramping up and Star Wars Galaxies is running. So, it looks like the latest attempt to save the EverQuest Brandname is to try to hook Mac OS users just as the game is being replaced.

So far to keep their game alive they have

- Removed information as to how many people are playing after noticing a 20% drop
- Started promoting EQ as a way of drunk women meeting famous people with a really amusing movie file that has basically vanished from the net
- Offering $40/month luxury servers that have what they used to promise the standard servers
- Providing a range of services that they swore they would never ever do (The Rename service netted then $69,200 last month alone)
- Trying to stir up interest in their game with some of the poorest tie-in merchandise in history
- emailing out free accounts
- giving free doses of their game away on magazine covers

(For people who don't play EQ, a lot of people are commenting on how once crowded zones are now going empty, and more and more people are leaving or Ebaying their characters rather then keep playing. When asked about Everquest 2, a common reaction is a shudder and 'Nope, never again')

Re:One Problem

[Alex Thorpe]

Problem or bonus? I think Mac users getting their own server, rather than joining a 4 year old world on the PC servers with 4 year old players is a good idea.

Re:jesus christ

[Anonymous Coward]

so efforts to build a simultanious Mac port actually reaches a proportionally larger unrealized market than you may have considered

A best selling Mac game shifts around 30K units - this isn't even on the radar for a PC title, which would be considered a flop if it sells less than 200K. It's unfortunate, but true - there just aren't as many Mac users who play games (I know these numbers are correct, because I port games to the Mac for a living: see posts by people like Westlake at IMG/MacGamer if you want another source).

Companies which do simultaneous development typically do so because a)of their history, e.g., they started out on the Mac and feel they owe it to their users or b)due to internal politics (e.g., id do it because they want to help support OpenGL).

Re:jesus christ

[Golias]

A best selling Mac game shifts around 30K units - this isn't even on the radar for a PC title, which would be considered a flop if it sells less than 200K.

Yess, but a game that sells 230K is considered much, much more successful than a game that sells 200K. That's what simultaneous development can do for you.

Of course, if you port Mac games for a living, I'm sure you would rather that the game companies did not do it that way.