Buy games on one OS, play them on another?

I currently have a Mac and I'm going to build a PC later this year, but I'm going to be buying some games from the Steam Summer Sale in advance to get the good deals. Before I buy anything, will Steam let me purchase a game on a Mac that is only available on Windows so that later I can play it on my new computer? I really want to take advantage of the sales, but I want to know if I can do this. For example, I pressed the Play Game button on Planetside 2 on my Mac, but it just said "This game is not available on your platform." and that was it. Would this happen if I purchase a game only for Windows on my Mac?

 

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=9439-QHKN-1308

Windows-only games are Windows-only. Of course you'll be able to play Windows games you purchased from the Mac on Windows, you just won't be able to play them on Mac, as you've discovered with PlanetSide 2.

And for the love of god, don't play PlanetSide 2, or any other MMO, through Steam. Go to the PlanetSide 2 website and install the standalone. Steam builds of MMO's are always severely outdated because the games are constantly patched and Steam can't keep up with updating the version on its servers. All Steam serves as is a launcher for these games.

In the case of PlanetSide 2, the version on Steam is over a year old. As soon as you launch it, it'll download more than the entire game's worth of updates. Save yourself the time and Internet bandwidth, get the standalone. You could always add it to your Steam library if you want the Steam in-game overlay functionality.

As a corollary to the above, never try to verify the integrity of any MMO or other non-Steam game through Steam. It'll cross-check your updated game build against the ancient one on its servers, find the mismatch, then proceed to delete your game and redownload the entire outdated version, which you'll the have to patch to get it up-to-date again. A very painful process, no doubt. Always validate the game's assets through its own launcher.

 

You can purchase any game you want on a Mac, but it won't be playable on OS X unless it has a port specifically for that title. However, when you install Steam on your Windows box, the games you bought will be there, ready to be installed.

For example, if you purchase Deus Ex: Human Revolution on your Mac, you can play it in both OS X and Windows because it's Steamplay. If you want Splinter Cell: Blacklist, you can buy it in OS X, but it will only be playable in Windows. Every game has icons that represent which operating systems it can be played on, including Windows, OS X, Linux, and the upcoming SteamOS.

To be completely honest, I would not trust the Mac Steam client to make purchases. I would use my web browser and do it through the Steam website. You log in there the same way you do with the client application.

 

That is not what I'm asking. Say I want to buy Far Cry 3. That game is only on Windows. I don't currently have a Windows machine. Can I purchase this game on my Mac, and just not play it until I build my PC?

 

I know every game has icons for what platforms they are available on. And you answered my question. And yes, I will probably use the Steam website, and not the client.

By the way, does this look like a good list of games to buy?

Half Life Anthology
Orange Box
Portal 2
Far Cry Franchise Pack
Tomb Raider
Bioshock Triple Pack
Fallout 3
Metro: Last Light
LEGO Marvel Superheroes

And I was actually shocked by how many of these game are available on Mac.

 

You can buy it from Linux, Windows, your smartphone, it doesn't matter. It's just a transaction tied to your Steam account, but can't play it unless it's on a platform that's supported.

So to answer your question succinctly... YES.

 

Yes, see Saturnotaku's reply. He explained it very well.

 

*facepalm*
Of course you can. I don't understand why do you think that buying a game for a different OS wouldn't be possible.

 

For the more recent AAA's at least, a lot of them have not survived the D3D to OpenGL porting process well. The graphics have been stripped down and occasionally there are glitches and stability/performance issues.

 

Well, as I said, I remember once I pressed Play Game on Planetside 2 and it said "This game is not available on this platform." and didn't say anything about that I owned the game. Whatever, I got my answer, and thank you.

 

That's 'cause ownership in Steam of F2P games like PS2 is different than games you've bought.

 

Just curious, why wouldn't you trust the Mac Steam client to make purchases? Is it something specific to the Steam client, or the Mac version of it, or do you just generally prefer to buy things online via a web browser? I buy probably 90% of the Steam games I buy via the Windows Steam client, and never really considered it an issue.

 

The Mac version of the Steam client is poop on toast, and despite Valve's proclamations of lovin' themselves some OS X, they are not overly bothered enough to fix it. The client is functional for downloading and running games, but I don't trust it to browse the store and make purchases with any reliability.

 

You can buy the games that you want on Steam for Windows via your Mac and then when you built your PC, you can download it there and play it.

 

Bottom line is you can buy a Steam game any way you like.. Web, desktop client, mobile app, steam key from green man gaming.. Etc...

Once you tie it to your account by buying it or redeeming a key, you can install and run the game through the steam client logged into your account on any platform that the game supports. The only catch is that you can only play your games on one PC at a time. If you wanted to play on the go on your macbook pro, make sure you didn't leave a game running on your Windows desktop, for example.

 

From personal experience I know you can definitely purchase a game not currently supportive by your OS, which is handy if you regularly browse with a mac and come across deals to buy, and later game on windows.