Gaming enthusiasts often face a dilemma when they own a Mac but want to play Windows-exclusive games. Fortunately, you don’t need to invest in a separate gaming PC to enjoy your favourite titles. Modern technology and software solutions make playing Windows games on a Mac possible. Modern technology and software solutions make playing Windows games on a Mac possible.
In this article, we discussed the following ways to help you install and play Windows games on your Mac.
- Check for the Mac version of games
- Use Parallels Desktop or WINE
- Use Apple’s Boot Camp to run Windows
- Use Virtual Machines
- Use Cloud Streaming
- Use Fan-made port
- For Devs: Use Apple’s Game Porting Toolkit
Also read: How to find the game directory on Mac?
Check for the Mac version of the games
Before you get into anything too complex, it’s a good idea to check if the game you want to play already has a version made specifically for Mac. Sometimes, people assume that a game is only for Windows, but you might be surprised to find out that many games also have versions made for Mac.
For instance, take Borderlands 3, which came out in 2019; it has a great Mac version. When you buy the game, you often get both the Windows and Mac versions, so you might already have the Mac version of the games you’ve purchased.
You can easily check if you have the Mac version of a game using the desktop clients of platforms like Steam, Epic Game Store, Battle.net, or Good Old Games (GoG). Go to your game library and use the filter option to sort games by the operating system. Also, remember that if you’re using macOS Catalina or a newer version, 32-bit Mac games won’t work anymore.
Use Parallels Desktop or WINE
While a regular virtual machine can handle many Windows games on a Mac, the most effective solution might involve using a compatibility layer or a mix of both approaches with virtualisation. Aside from better performance, the big advantage of this method is that you don’t have to restart your Mac or switch between the native system and the virtual machine. The game should run like any other Mac application from the user’s perspective.
Use Parallels Desktop
If you want to run Windows on your Mac seamlessly without hiccups, look no further than Parallels. They offer a full suite of software that allows you to experience Windows and run its app on your Mac.
Parallels Desktop utilises virtualisation technology and Windows’s ARM version to function on Apple Silicon computers. The Parallels team has put in much effort to make it work smoothly. If your primary goal is gaming, Parallels offers a dedicated games-only mode that guarantees the best performance by utilising OpenGL or DirectX. It’s straightforward—you install a game client like Steam for Windows using Parallels and then play your games.
If you’re using an Apple Silicon Mac, they recommend one with at least 16GB of RAM because it can sometimes significantly impact game performance.
The Parallels discount code above only applies until November 5 on the full-license or first year of subscription.
If you like the free trial and want to purchase the full version, they offer a yearly subscription at $99 that includes all updates and a one-time subscription of $129 for the current version. Educators, students, military, non-profits and government organisations can get up to 50% off on their plans.
Access Parallel Desktop here
Use WINE
WINE, which stands for Wine Is Not an Emulator, is the original compatibility tool for Unix-like operating systems such as macOS, Linux, and BSD. As mentioned earlier, both Crossover and PlayOnMac are built on top of WINE, but with WINE, you don’t get paid support; it’s all driven by the community.
However, this community-driven approach isn’t a downside. You might discover that the Wine community is quite welcoming, with plenty of tutorials and helpful users on forums. WINE now works with Apple Silicon Macs starting from version 6.1, but remember that it only supports 64-bit Windows executable (.exe) files.
Access WINE here
Use Crossover
Crossover is a paid version of the WINE project. Crossover translates the language of Windows programs into something that macOS can understand and vice versa. In practical terms, this method works well and is fast enough for many games to be playable.
Apple Silicon Macs have a bit of a performance drop, but you can still run Windows apps through Crossover with a triple layer of translation and virtualisation. Crossover has a team of developers dedicated to making game-specific improvements and fixes for popular games. This means you can get the best possible performance when playing games.
Remember that Crossover is somewhat expensive, but it costs less than buying a Windows license, and you can try it for free to make sure your favourite games work well before you decide to pay for it.
Download Crossover here
Use PlayOnMac
PlayOnMac is a free app for Mac that works like CrossOver, using the WINE project as its foundation. It puts each Windows program into a compatibility wrapper and makes specific adjustments for each app using an online tweaks database. While PlayOnMac might not be as compatible with all Windows apps as paid solutions, it won’t cost anything to try.
Access PlayOnMac here
Use Apple’s Boot Camp to run Windows
The best way to play Windows games on your Mac is to install it, essentially turning it into a Windows PC. You can do this using a feature called Boot Camp, which is officially provided by macOS. With Boot Camp properly set up and all the necessary drivers installed, Windows programs and games will run just like on a regular Windows computer. This means you can play Windows Steam games and games that need OpenGL, even though Apple doesn’t support OpenGL anymore.
Unfortunately, Boot Camp doesn’t work with the newer Apple Silicon Macs.
Moreover, many older Macs with Intel CPUs have less powerful integrated graphics, so they may not handle new or complex games well. If you have an Intel Mac with a strong separate graphics card, you’ll have a better gaming experience.
One drawback of Boot Camp is that you must restart your computer whenever you want to play a Windows game, which can be inconvenient.
Use Virtual Machines
A virtual machine tricks operating systems into running as if they’re on a real computer. With this software, you can make macOS run other operating systems like Linux or Windows.
For Mac users, there are a few choices for virtual machines, but VMWare Fusion and VirtualBox are some of the most well-known. Using a virtual machine can be handy for running simpler Windows games or older ones. However, games with advanced graphics features that need special drivers might not work perfectly in a virtual machine. They might have issues like glitches or poor performance.
Virtual machines are most useful for running software or programs not made for Mac. When it comes to games, how well they work can vary.
Use Cloud Streaming
You can enjoy Windows games on your Mac without running them directly on your Mac using Cloud Gaming. The game runs on a computer in a data centre somewhere while the audio and video stream to your computer, and your commands go back to control the game.
For this to work well, you need a good internet connection and ideally live close to the data centre to minimise delays. Using an Ethernet connection rather than WiFi is highly recommended if it’s an option.
The fantastic thing about cloud gaming is that you’re not limited to playing on your Mac. You can start playing on your Mac and then continue on a mobile phone or certain set-top boxes like Google Chromecast or Android TV.
Some well-known cloud gaming services include Nvidia GeForce Now, Microsoft Xbox’s Xcloud, and PlayStation Now. Many of these services also work on iOS devices so you can play games on Apple devices other than your Mac.
Use fan-made ports
Even if the official creators of a game didn’t make a Mac version, there are times when fans step in and create their own Mac-friendly versions. For example, you can enjoy the classic game Diablo on your Mac using DevilutionX, and it should work on any modern Mac as long as it’s a 64-bit application. If you don’t want to download from the given, search for DevilutionX online and then download it from the source you like.
Another good place to find these Mac-friendly versions is Mac Source Ports. This site gathers these unofficial special versions that work well on Mac. You’ll still need to buy the original game and then follow some instructions to make it run on macOS, but in the end, you’ll have a game that works perfectly on your Mac.
For Devs: Use Apple’s Game Porting Toolkit
If you want to play games that use DirectX 12, you’ll need to use Apple’s Game Porting Toolkit. It’s quite similar to CrossOver, but it’s a tool meant for developers. This means it’s not designed for regular users, so you might encounter various issues and bugs as you work with it.
Apple has introduced this new Game Porting Toolkit. It’s built upon the source code from CrossOver, a solution based on Wine for running Windows games on macOS. Apple’s tool translates Windows games to make them run on macOS instantly. This allows developers to test a Windows game on a Mac without making any changes and see how well it performs before going through the full porting process.
Also read: What is Thrill Algorithm on Mac?
