Apple devices are mainly used for creative work – this is where they have their strength, but if some people get the idea to use a Mac for gaming as well, they will be surprised to find out that this is very easily possible as long as the games support macOS.
But what about Windows games? Can these also be played on a Mac? Unfortunately, Windows games cannot be played on macOS using on-board means – you have to use a technology called emulation to get games from Windows to run on a Mac.
Emulation is the process of simulating a virtual environment, in this case Windows and all of its associated APIs and tools, such as DirectX, so that the games can run in that environment.
When it comes to emulation, there are a few options for the Mac:
- Steam – the free way is Valve's Steam client. You install Steam on your Mac and activate Proton, an emulation technology based on Wine, under Settings. After that, you can install games made for Windows in your Steam library.
- PlayOnMac is free software that allows you to easily install and use many games and software developed for Windows on macOS. Emulation is used here as well, and a lot of manual work is saved.
- CrossOver Mac – if you want to save yourself a lot of time and effort, you can buy CrossOver Mac and use it to install any Windows software and games on your Mac. The advantage is that you can install virtually any game that you would install on a Windows system.
The first two options are free and already allow you to play many Windows games on a Mac. Steam is the best option. Alternatively, you can spend some money and buy a professional solution like CrossOver Mac, which allows much better compatibility for Windows games.
Unfortunately, not all solutions are perfect, and there will be some games that you simply can't play on a Mac. In this case, your only option is to switch to alternative games or get a Windows system.
