The popular PC online service for downloading games will be available on the Mac platform from May 12.

For PC gamers Steam is the place to go for new game releases. Currently over 25 million gamers around the world are part of the service. But from today, Mac gamers can also download games via the service. Steam is US-based, but the release suggests that the May 12th roll out will be global.

Developer Valve Software said that registered users who have previously purchased PC games on Steam will find them available in their account on the Mac as they are released.

The critically acclaimed puzzle game Portal will be the first of Valve's Source engine-based games available on the Mac.

Max Schaefer, co-founder of Runic Games, said, “Having Steam for the Mac solves so many problems for us as a developer. We look forward to our future games coming out on the Mac as well.”

In addition to bringing the online functionality of Steam to the Mac, Valve will also make its Steamworks suite of publishing and development tools available on the platform. These include product key authentication, copy protection, auto-updating, social networking, matchmaking and anti-cheat technology.

Hit this link for more information on Steam.