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In a surprise announcement, Sony Online Entertainment has revealed that their incredibly successful MMORPG EverQuest will be ported to Mac OS X this Spring, along with all of the available expansion packs. Mac users have long felt left out of the MMORPG genre, and while spring is quite some time away, the news that Mac users will be able to journey through the lands of Luclin is welcome indeed. Here are details from the press release:

Sony Online Entertainment Inc. (SOE), a worldwide leader in massively multiplayer online gaming, announced today
that its flagship product, EverQuest®, is coming to the Mac. SOE became an
official online gaming developer for the Mac in January and has made its top
games at The Station® ( www.station.com ), such as Wheel of Fortune Online
and Jeopardy! Online, available to the more than 25 million Mac users.

"Supporting the Mac platform is a logical step towards growing our online
community and building the most complete, interactive experience for
gamers," said Scott McDaniel, Vice President of Marketing, Sony Online
Entertainment. "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."

"Mac OS X is awesome for playing games that involve fast-paced, high-end 3D
graphics and visual effects because the most robust graphics technologies
are built right into the operating system's core," said Ron Okamoto, Apple's
vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations. "EverQuest is a hugely
successful game that delivers cutting-edge character development and player
interaction. We're thrilled that EverQuest will take advantage of Mac OS X's
advanced capabilities and provide a wonderful experience for our gamers."

In the Spring of 2003, Mac users can purchase the original EverQuest and the
top-selling expansion packs including: The Shadows of Luclin(TM), The Ruins
of Kunark(TM) and The Scars of Velious(TM).

We have also learned several details that online game fans might be interested in -- Mac OS X EverQuest players will not be able to play against (or with) the PC players of the game, due to server incompatibilities. Also, Sony will be watching the sales of Mac EverQuest very closely, to evaluate whether ports of other titles such as EverQuest 2 and Star Wars Galaxies will be worthwhile. Stay tuned for more expo news!

"EverQuest Comes to Mac OS X" @ PRNewswire

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