During WWDC 2023, Apple introduced the Game Porting Toolkit, a set of tools that will allow port pc games to mac. Barely a couple of days have passed and there are already people taking advantage of this technology with current titles. On Reddit, users demonstrated that cyberpunk 2077 and Diablo IV can run on a Mac with Apple Silicon chip.
You yourself will be able to appreciate that, although cyberpunk 2077 is running on a Mac without the need to virtualize Windows, performance is less than optimal. In fact, The game can’t get past 15 FPS (frames per second) when running at Ultra graphics settings. Let’s remember that the CD Projekt Red title is one of the most demanding technical resources today. According to u/isaa6, he got this on a MacBook Pro M1 with 16GB of RAM, though he didn’t specify which version of the chip is—it could be the Pro or Max variant.
I got Cyberpunk 2077 running on an M1 MacBook!
by u/isaa6 in macgaming
For its part, u/just_reload_it did the same with Diablo IV, which hit the market just this week. The user owns a MacBook Pro with M2 Max chip. Unlike what was achieved with cyberpunk 2077the new from Blizzard runs very well on the Apple computer, exceeding 80 FPS with the preset chart in Ultra.
Diablo IV on M2 Max using macOS Sonoma and game porting toolkit
by u/just_reload_it in macgaming
Apple wants to get on the bandwagon gaming
Now, considering that only 48 hours have passed since Apple released the Game Porting Toolkit, and that the ports were made by enthusiasts and not by the studios responsible for Diablo IV and cyberpunk 2077we can hope for what comes in the future in terms of video games on a Mac.
Once game companies get familiar with the tool, rest assured that there will be more PC games on Mac with adequate performance. It is also clear that Apple wants to bet on it gaming on your platform.
At the WWDC 2023 keynote, Hideo Kojima, one of the game industry’s most renowned creatives, appeared at the keynote to announce the launch of Death Stranding on Mac. Yes, it’s an adventure that came to light more than three years ago, but it’s still interesting that someone like Kojima trusts Apple to expand the availability of his title.
We must remember that Game Porting Toolkit is, in simple terms, a DirectX 12 emulator for Mac. It is a similar solution to the one that Valve resorted to in order to be able to run Windows games on the Steam Deck, whose operating system is based on Linux. Those led by Gabe Newell, however, relied on Proton.
One of the most positive points of the Game Porting Toolkit is that the developers are not even required to alter the game code. Of course, specific cases will arise in which, to offer adequate performance, you will have to get your hands on the code.
Without a doubt, what can come in the future thanks to this tool looks quite promising. Maybe in a few years Mac will be able to remove the stigma of being a useless platform for gaming. Much will depend, of course, on the work of video game developers.
