How to Play Windows Games on Mac

The Mac, known for its sleek design and robust performance, is not traditionally considered a gaming platform. This is primarily due to the limited availability of popular game titles, many of which are designed for Windows. However, Mac users are not entirely out of options.

Related Reading

• How to Use Game Mode on macOS Sonoma
• Crossover vs Parallels: Which Is The Better Option For Mac Gamers?
• Best Emulators for M1 Mac
• How to Add Widgets to Desktop on macOS Sonoma
• Spatial Audio on the AirPods Max Is an Absolute Game-changer

How to Play Windows Games on Mac

There are several methods to play Windows games on a Mac, but today, we’ll be focusing on a new feature coming to macOS Sonoma known as the Game Porting Toolkit. This article will guide you through the various ways to enjoy your favorite Windows games on macOS.

Install macOS Sonoma

Before you can start playing Windows games on Mac, you’ll first want to download and install the macOS Sonoma beta. This is due to the fact that some of the other steps that we need to follow in this guide require Sonoma to be installed, as the tools don’t currently work on previous iterations of macOS.

1. Open Safari, or your web browser of choice, on your Mac.
2. Navigate to developer.apple.com.
3. Click the Developer button in the top right corner.
   
4. Sign in with your Apple ID.
5. Read through and accept the Apple Developer Agreement.
6. Close your web browser and restart your Mac.
7. After your Mac is finished restarting, open the System Settings app.
8. Click General in the sidebar on the left.
   
9. On the right side of the window, click Software Update.
   
10. Click the Info button next to Beta updates.
    
11. From the window that appears, click the drop-down menu next to Beta Updates.
12. Select macOS Sonoma Developer Beta from the list of options.
13. Click the Done button in the bottom right corner.
    
14. Close and reopen the System Settings app.
15. Navigate back to the System Update section.
16. Wait for a moment while your Mac searches for an available update.
17. After a few moments, you should see an Updates Available section.
18. Click the Update Now button.
19. Wait for your Mac to finish downloading the update.
20. When prompted, restart your Mac to complete the installation of macOS Sonoma.

Regardless of which model of the Mac you are using to install macOS Sonoma, the process will likely take a while. With this in mind, make sure that your Mac is connected to power for the entire installation process, so you don’t end up losing everything and find yourself needing to restore from a back up.

Download the Game Porting Toolkit

Apple’s Game Porting Toolkit is a development tool that simplifies the process of porting Windows games to Mac for developers. It’s a part of Apple’s Metal API, providing developers with access to hardware-accelerated graphics features on Macs. The Game Porting Toolkit enhances the functionality of an existing open-source project named Wine, which enables Windows apps, including games, to operate on Unix-like operating systems.

1. Open Safari on your Mac.
2. Navigate to the Apple Developer Downloads landing page.
3. Sign in with your Apple ID.
4. Scroll down until you find Game porting toolkit beta.
5. Click the View Details drop-down menu.
   
6. Click the Game porting toolkit beta.dmg.
   
7. Wait for the file to finish downloading before proceeding, but don’t mount the DMG file.

The Game Porting Toolkit was announced at WWDC ’23 alongside macOS Sonoma. This is intended for developers to use in porting their games to macOS without needing to redesign their games from the ground up. However, it didn’t take long before the community discovered that the Game Porting Toolkit could be used to play Windows games on Mac without waiting for the game to be updated by the developer.

Install Command Line Tools for Xcode 15

In order to proceed with being able to play Windows games on Mac, you’ll need to install the Command Line Tools for Xcode 15. However, it’s important to point out that following these steps doesn’t install the full version of Xcode, but just the necessary command line tools that you’ll need as getting everything set up for the Toolkit is done from the Terminal app.

1. Open Safari on your Mac.
2. Navigate to the Xcode Resources landing page.
3. Scroll down until you reach the Additional downloads section.
4. Click the Command line tools and old versions of Xcode link.
5. Sign in with your Apple ID.
6. Locate the Command Line Tools for Xcode 15 beta section.
7. Click the View Details drop-down menu.
   
8. Click the Command Line Tools for Xcode 15 beta.dmg.
   
9. Wait for the file to finish downloading.
10. Open your Downloads folder.
11. Locate the file that you just downloaded and double-click it to mount the DMG file.
12. Double-click the Command Line Tools.pkg icon in the Finder window that appears.
    
13. Follow the on-screen steps to install the Command Line Tools.

Install the Game Porting Toolkit

With the Game Porting Toolkit DMG available, and the Command Line Tools installed, you can finally get started with the steps to play Windows games on Mac. The first thing that you’ll need to do is install the new Game Porting Toolkit using Homebrew.

1. Open the Terminal app on your Mac.
2. Insert the following commands, and hit Enter after each one.
   1. To install Rosetta on your M1 or M2 Mac: softwareupdate –install-rosetta
   2. Enter the x8664 shell (required): arch -x86_64 zsh
   3. Install Homebrew x8664: /bin/bash -c “$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)”
      
      
   4. Set the path: (echo; echo ‘eval “USER/.zprofile eval “$(/usr/local/bin/brew shellenv)”
      • Confirm that you are using the correct path: which brew.
      • If you are on the correct path, you will see /usr/local/bin/brew. If not, enter this command: export PATH=/usr/local/bin:${PATH}
   5. Tap the source code from Apple for Homebrew: _brew tap apple/apple http://github.com/apple/homebrew-apple
   6. Install Homebrew: brew -v install apple/apple/game-porting-toolkit
      • If you already have Homebrew installed: brew update brew -v install apple/apple/game-porting-toolkit

Set Up a Wine Prefix

A Wine prefix, often referred to as a “Wine bottle,” is a directory that contains all the settings, system files, and installed applications for a particular Wine environment. It functions as a container or a separate virtual Windows environment, allowing users to configure Wine differently for various applications. This is particularly useful when different applications require different settings or versions of Windows to run optimally.

By default, Wine uses a single prefix (usually located in the .wine directory in the user’s home folder), but users can create multiple prefixes for different applications. Each prefix is isolated from the others, which means changes made within one Wine prefix will not affect applications installed in a different prefix. This feature allows users to manage and run multiple Windows applications on Unix-like operating systems without conflicts.

1. Open the Terminal app on your Mac.
2. Enter the following command and press Enter:
   • WINEPREFIX=~/my-game-prefix brew --prefix game-porting-toolkit/bin/wine64 winecfg
3. If entered correctly, you should see the Wine Configuration window. Under Version select Windows 10.
   
4. Select Apply, then click the OK button.
5. Insert the following command to copy the Game Porting Toolkit library directory to the Wine library directory:
   • ditto /Volumes/Game\ Porting\ Toolkit-1.0/lib/ brew --prefix game-porting-toolkit/lib/
6. Insert the following command to place the Game Porting Toolkit scripts into the /usr/local/bin folder:
   • cp /Volumes/Game\ Porting\ Toolkit/gameportingtoolkit /usr/local/bin

Install Steam Using the Game Porting Toolkit

Now that you have gotten the Game Porting Toolkit set up, along with getting Wine configured properly for your Mac, you can finally install Steam and start downloading your favorite games. Here are the final steps that you need to follow in order to play Windows games on Mac with macOS Sonoma:

1. Download the SteamSetup file linked below to your Mac:
   • SteamSetup.exe
2. From the Terminal app on your Mac, insert the following command and press Enter.
   • gameportingtoolkit ~/my-game-prefix ~/Downloads/SteamSetup.exe
3. Follow the on-screen prompts to finish installing the Steam app on your Mac.
   
4. Insert the following command into the Terminal app, and press Enter:
   • gameportingtoolkit ~/my-game-prefix ‘C:\Program Files (x86)/Steam/steam.exe’
5. In some instances, Steam might not appear, or will appear with a blank window. If this happens to you, insert the following command and press Enter:
   • MTL_HUD_ENABLED=1 WINEESYNC=1 WINEPREFIX=~/my-game-prefix /usr/local/Cellar/game-porting-toolkit/1.0.2/bin/wine64 ‘C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steam.exe’
6. In the event that it happens again, close the Terminal window, enter the arch x86_64 zsh command then try the two commands above again.

If everything has been entered correctly, you should see a new Steam app window appear on your Mac. From here, you can log into your Steam account, navigate to your Library, and begin installing games from Steam onto your Mac.

Conclusion

While the Mac may not be the first choice for gamers, there are several ways to play Windows games on macOS. Whether you choose to dual-boot with Boot Camp, use a VM, or stream games online, you can enjoy your favorite Windows games on your Mac. Remember, each method has its pros and cons, so choose the one that best suits your needs and resources.