this reason, the team developed the PC version themselves and sought out a different publisher. The PC version was first announced at the 2006 Electronic Entertainment Expo. Unlike the Xbox version, the PC version was published by 2K Games. The game went gold in February 2007, shortly before its North American release. The game released on February 27, 2007 in North America. It later released on March 2 in Europe and Australia. The downloadable version was released through Steam and BioWare's online store on February 28. It later released through GOG.com on June 11, 2013. A port of Special Edition for macOS was developed and published by TransGaming on August 18, 2008. Later ports for iOS and Android were developed and published by Aspyr respectively on October 6 and November 15, 2016. Reception Critical reviews Computer and Video Games spoke highly of the game, saying that the game's accessibility would attract those introduced to BioWare's Knights of the Old Republic, calling Jade Empire "imaginative, accessible, beautiful to look at and incredibly immersive to play". Rob Fahey of Eurogamer praised the aesthetics and replay value, but noted that the combat's lack of depth and limited customization options would be negatively viewed by some players.GameSpot's Greg Kasavin was positive overall, his only complaints being issues with combat balance and the game's short length. Will Tuttle of GameSpy lauded every aspect of the game, calling it "the best [RPG] to ever hit the Xbox". IGN's David Clayman was again highly positive, noting only camera difficulties that distracted from the flow of combat. Luke van Leuveran of PALGN called Jade Empire "an amazing action RPG", praising its story and combat system. Reviews of the Xbox version were positive overall, with the graphics and storyline coming in for the majority of praise. While the gameplay was seen as solid, its simplicity was frequently criticized. Suzy Wallace of Computer and Video Games felt that the Special Edition managed to reach beyond its roots on the Xbox to become a good-quality RPG for PCs, despite dated graphics and gameplay pacing issues. Fahay, returning to review the PC port, was disappointed at the lack of graphical polish and technical upgrades over its console counterpart. GameSpot's Kevin VanOrd shared points of praise and criticism with the Xbox review, while also noting that the PC version had few noticeable enhancements over the Xbox version. GameSpy's Allen Rausch enjoyed the storyline