Civilization V coming to OS X soon

Remember when Civilization IV came out, and Mac users had to wait nearly a year for the game to come to OS X? You'd be forgiven for thinking the same thing would happen with Civilization V, especially since there's been no official word from either Firaxis or 2K on when the turn-based strategy epic will make its way to the Mac. According to Mac Rumors, however, the wait for an OS X-compatible version of Civilization V may not be long at all -- they claim the Mac port may be coming sometime in the next few weeks.

The Mac has enjoyed a sort of gaming renaissance in 2010, with Steam integration earlier this year followed by many high-profile titles (finally) making their way onto the platform. The Civilization series is one of the biggest names in PC/Mac gaming, so if it does indeed make it to OS X only a couple of months after its Windows debut, it's another hopeful sign that game developers are finally taking Mac-based gaming seriously.

Civilization V requires registering with Steam, even if you bought a copy in a brick-and-mortar store. If you've already bought the game for Windows, you might not have to purchase it again to play it in OS X -- so far this has been the case for other titles released through Steam's online store, but it may or may not apply to copies bought through other retail outlets. Either way, I'll definitely be holding off on purchasing the game until after I finish my Master's thesis... because "Just one more turn" very quickly turns into, "Whoa, it's February already?"