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Windows games on Mac - does it work now?

22.6.2023

Translation: machine translated

Apple's new Game Porting Toolkit lets you run PC games on MacOS. I try it out to see how well it works and whether I can mothball my Windows box.

Windows games on Macs with Apple Silicon chips is only possible in a roundabout way. With the Game Porting Toolkit, Apple now offers a way to run even the latest DirectX 12 games on Mac. The tool is actually intended for software studios. It is intended to help port games for Mac.

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I'm not a software studio. But I've long wanted to utilise the graphics power of my M1 Max chip in games. But what game is there for Mac? Almost none. I used to be able to install Windows via Bootcamp. Windows games ran smoothly, even if not in high resolution. Since the switch to Apple's M chips with Arm architecture, Bootcamp no longer works. There are only a few unsatisfactory workarounds such as Crossover or Parallels, the full versions of which are still available for a fee.

That's why I now have a Windows box for games. There's no other way. But I'd rather have a single Mac for everything. Is that possible with the new Game Porting Toolkit? I'll give it a try.

What does the Game Porting Toolkit do?

Apple's new toolkit is a translation programme. It works similarly to Proton on the Steam Deck, with a version of Wine - an open source compatibility layer. This earned Apple some criticism, as the Californians are not exactly known for their articles on the open source Community. The Game Porting Toolkit can translate on three levels simultaneously:

From x86 to Arm
From Windows to MacOS
From DirectX 12 to Apple's Metal 3

There is a lot of work going on in the background when you start a current Windows game via the toolkit. Accordingly, you have to reckon with a loss of performance. But since my M1 Max chip has quite a lot of power, I'm still hoping for reasonable frame rates.

The Game Porting Toolkit was presented by Apple at the World Wide Developers Conference. It is designed to help developer studios port their games to Mac more easily.
Source: Screenshot Apple Keynote

Installation: Not intended for amateurs like me

As a rule, I find Apple's software easy to understand. This doesn't apply to the Game Porting Toolkit, which is because it's not designed for non-programmers like me. With various instructions on Reddit, I manage to do it anyway.

The following steps are necessary if you want to try it yourself:

1. update MacOS and create a backup

Your MacOS version should be up to date. This is currently version 13.4. You can find the updates in the system settings under "General" > "Software update".
If you do not install the toolkit on a test computer, be sure to make a backup beforehand, for example using Time Machine. You will be installing a beta OS right away, with the backup you can revert to the normal version if necessary.

2. Install MacOS Sonoma Beta

In order to install the beta, you must first register with your Apple ID at developer.apple.com.
Then open the system settings of your Mac
Under "General" > "Software Update" the option "Beta Updates" will now appear. Click on the "i" and select Sonoma Beta from the drop-down menu, then click on "Done".
Click on "Upgrade now" to install the beta.

You can install the Sonoma beta in the software updates
Source: Samuel Buchmann

3. Install the Game Porting Toolkit and Xcode

Download the "Game Porting Toolkit Beta", the "Xcode 15 Beta" and the "Command Line Tools for Xcode 15 beta" from Apple's developer database.
Install Xcode and the Command Line Tools.
Mount the Game Porting Toolkit and open the Read Me file.
Open the terminal and follow steps 1 to 3 in Apple's instructions.
You now have a virtual drive C: - it is located in your user folder in the directory "my-game-prefix".
Some games need a newer Windows build number. Use the following command lines to change the registry accordingly:

WINEPREFIX=~/my-game-prefix brew --prefix game-porting-toolkit/bin/wine64 reg add 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion' /v CurrentBuild /t REG_SZ /d 19042 /f

WINEPREFIX=~/my-game-prefix brew --prefix game-porting-toolkit/bin/wine64 reg add 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion' /v CurrentBuildNumber /t REG_SZ /d 19042 /f

WINEPREFIX=~/my-game-prefix brew --prefix game-porting-toolkit/bin/wineserver -k

4. install and open games

Now you can download game installers for Windows. For example Steam, BattleNet or Ubisoft Connect. If you followed Apple's instructions at point 3, you can leave them in the "Download" folder.
Use the following command line to run the installer. This example works for the Steam installer, for others you have to adjust the name of the exe file in the code:

/Volumes/Game\ Porting\ Toolkit-1.0/gameportingtoolkit ~/my-game-prefix "C:\users\crossover\Downloads\SteamSetup.exe"

To start a game use the following command. You must adapt the path and the exe file for your game:

gameportingtoolkit-no-hud ~/my-game-prefix 'C:\Program Files\MyGame\MyGame.exe'

In Apple's Read Me file under "Launch your game" you will find further terminal commands. This allows you to start your game with a performance display, for example.

Games or launchers such as Steam must be opened using a terminal command.
Source: Samuel Buchmann

Promising start: "Diablo IV"

First, I try out whether the new "Diablo IV" works. I think the would be particularly great. In fact: it works. The BattleNet launcher and the game can be started without any problems using the terminal command.

But how well does the game run? I'm testing the Game Porting Toolkit with a last year's MacBook Pro with M1 Max chip. It has 10 CPU cores, 32 GPU cores and 32 gigabytes of unified memory. Within the current Mac line-up, the device is upper mid-range.

With medium details, «Diablo IV» only looks moderately good. On the other hand, 1440p runs smoothly.
Source: Samuel Buchmann

At 1440p resolution, "Diablo IV" achieves around 50 frames per second (FPS) with medium details. These are not graphical highlights, but the game can be played smoothly. I also don't notice any drops in many lighting effects and no bugs in the gameplay. The only downer is a small input lag. For a current game with the necessary translation levels, I find this result surprisingly good.

Nothing to do: "Anno", "AoE", "RDR"

Next, I install Steam and download various games. Unfortunately, many of them fail completely. These include the two older titles "Anno 1404" and "Age of Empires IV". A window opens briefly, but closes again immediately. "Red Dead Redemption 2" automatically installs the Rockstar Launcher and also makes an attempt to open. After 30 seconds of waiting, however, the error message "The game is already running" appears and I can only click on "Exit".

Error message: The Wine translation layer does not seem to work with Forza Horizon.
Source: Samuel Buchmann

Other games that I install without success are "Counter-Strike: Source", "Halo Infinite", "Forza Horizon 5" and all Ubisoft games. I can install the launcher there, but I can't open it. This means that "Anno 1800" and "Assassin's Creed" are also cancelled. I don't know exactly why all these games won't run. For games like "Halo Infinite", it could be due to the required anti-cheat software, which is not compatible with Mac despite the Game Porting Toolkit.

Surprise: "Cyberpunk 2077"

A AAA title on a MacBook? "Ridiculous!" I think to myself, but give it a go anyway. To my astonishment, "Cyberpunk 2077" can actually be started. In 1440p with medium details, the benchmark spits out 27 FPS. In the game, I achieve around 30 FPS in most situations. That's barely playable at best. In 1080p it's already 45 FPS - but this resolution doesn't do justice to a game like Cyberpunk. It's probably only fun with Apple's new and very expensive M2 Ultra chip.

Cyberpunk on a Mac - who would have thought it? Fluid with my M1 Max but only in 1080p.
Source: Samuel Buchmann

When I initially test with an M1 Pro MacBook Pro, I also have graphical artefacts in the form of missing textures that are displayed as black areas. The problem disappears after a short time, but recurs from time to time.

When I first tested with M1 Pro, annoying graphic artefacts appeared.
Source: Samuel Buchmann

According to various reports on Reddit, the Game Porting Toolkit also supports other major titles. For example, "Hogwarts Legacy" or "Elden Ring". As I don't own these games, I can't test this myself. Instead, I recommend the videos by YouTuber Andrew Tsai, who dedicates his entire channel to gaming on Mac:

Conclusion: My gaming box is here to stay

The positive surprises are nice, but my verdict on the Game Porting Toolkit is still mixed. Even the installation is anything but easy - but I don't want to blame Apple for that. After all, the tool is not intended for me as a layman. Despite my understanding, I wouldn't want to install and start games with terminal commands every time in everyday life.

It's a matter of luck whether a game runs at all afterwards. I've only had success with two of my favourite titles. And if it works, the live translation of the software on Mac eats up a lot of resources. You can forget about 4K gaming in current games. If you have an M1 Max or M2 Max, a moderately demanding game like "Diablo IV" will run in 1440p resolution at best. That's not bad, but any mid-range PC can do better. My Windows box will therefore keep its place under my desk for games for the time being.

Nevertheless, I think it's remarkable that Apple is providing a toolkit that can be used to run "Cyberpunk 2077" on a Mac. It shows what would be possible if the studios actually ported their games. It is questionable whether they will make this effort in the future - the intersection of Mac users and gamers like me remains small. But as we all know, hope dies last.

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Samuel Buchmann

Senior Editor

Samuel.Buchmann@digitecgalaxus.ch

My fingerprint often changes so drastically that my MacBook doesn't recognise it anymore. The reason? If I'm not clinging to a monitor or camera, I'm probably clinging to a rockface by the tips of my fingers.

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