How to Get Windows Games Working on a Mac

There are all kinds of reasons to prefer Macs over Windows-based PCs. Gaming isn’t one of them. That isn’t to say that you can’t game on a Mac—modern Apple Silicon computers are fairly powerful. The problem is that many popular games don’t offer downloads that will run natively on a Mac. Search the Mac App Store or Steam and you’ll find a bunch of games for Mac—just not necessarily the specific ones you want.

And there’s another problem: Apple tends to break reverse compatibility faster than Microsoft does. For example, it’s currently impossible to run 32-bit applications on modern versions of macOS. If you have a Steam library full of games that ran just fine on the Mac you had in 2015, you’ll find that a lot of them won’t run at all on the Mac you bought last year.

It’s frustrating. Before you give up and buy a gaming laptop, though, know that you’ve got options for getting PC games to run on the Mac. It’s possible to get many Windows games—even recent releases—working on Apple hardware. It’s just going to take some tinkering and, in some cases, spending a little bit of money.

There’s No Universal Best Option

I would love to simply tell you there’s a definitive best way to play Windows games on a Mac. The truth is more complicated, and likely depends on which specific game you want to play.

The best place to get started is to head to the Apple Gaming Wiki and look up the specific game you’re interested in. Every game has a compatibility chart, letting you know which tools people have had success using to get the game running on a Mac. There are also general tips listed there for getting things running well. In most cases you’re going to want to use the tool with the best documented results here.

There are generally three tools listed in results: CrossOver, WINE, and Parallels. We’ll go over all of these options below.

Another thing to keep in mind is that, for some games, there may be a dedicated port made by a third party. For example: Fans built a port of Sonic Mania for the Mac that can run the game if you buy the Windows version and copy the relevant files. Fans of Final Fantasy XIV also made a client. Such dedicated ports will generally be noted on AppleGamingWiki, so keep your eyes peeled for them. First let’s talk about the best tools for the job.

CrossOver: The Best for Most People

Justin Pot

CrossOver Mac is a $74 program that can run Windows applications. You can search for any game, and a lot of software, right in the user interface and get a guided installation process. This means anything your game needs in order to run properly is downloaded and configured for you. CrossOver is expensive, yes, but this guided approach could save you a lot of time compared to the free options. It’s also nice having the ratings for how well the games work right in the application itself, instead of having to research anything yourself.