How Mac Versions Of <cite>Quake Wars</cite>, <cite>Sims</cite> Get Made

Glenda Adams, director of development at Aspyr Games, talks about her company's experiences in moving PC games like Enemy Territory: Quake Wars and The Sims to the Mac.

Some developers like to advertise how great they are by how quickly they can get something to “first playable,” but the really hard work takes place after that. Optimizing, debugging, and finishing all the small details of a game are the parts that really take the most time ... Most PC to Mac ports take about 6 months. We usually have 2 to 3 programmers working on a project.

Interesting -- I didn't think the teams were so small. Adams does point out that even though the process is faster than people think, Mac games sell so few copies that it's tough to justify the expense in many cases.

Mac Games Q&A [Riottt]