How to play Windows games on a Mac

The short answer

Apple Silicon Macs (M1 and newer) can't boot Windows, so you can't just install it next to macOS. You have four routes:

1. Play the Mac version, if there is one. Always the best experience.
2. Use a translation app built on Wine — CrossOver (paid), or free/cheaper options like Sikarugir, Heroic, Mythic and Grapple. No Windows licence, runs games directly on macOS. This is the best route for most single-player and co-op games.
3. Run Windows in a virtual machine with Parallels Desktop. Great for Windows apps, limited for games (DirectX 11.1 at most).
4. Stream the game from the cloud with GeForce NOW or Xbox Cloud Gaming. The only route that reliably handles games with strict anti-cheat, if the service carries your game.

Competitive online games with kernel-level anti-cheat (Valorant, for example) won't run locally with any of these. See what won't run.

First: is there a Mac version?

Before any workaround, check whether the game already runs natively. On Steam, the store page lists macOS under system requirements when a Mac build exists, and because your library belongs to your account, the Mac Steam client will install that version of games you bought on a PC. GOG and the Epic Games Store show supported platforms on their store pages too.

For Windows-only games, community reports on AppleGamingWiki tell you which method people have got a specific game working with, and how well.

Every method at a glance

Prices and versions as checked on the date at the top of this page.

Rule of thumb: try a Wine-based app first (most have a free option or trial), fall back to cloud gaming for anything with anti-cheat or that won't start, and use Parallels when you also need Windows software beyond games.

Translation apps (Wine-based)

These apps all build on Wine, an open-source layer that answers Windows programs' system calls with macOS equivalents. On Apple Silicon, Rosetta 2 translates the game's Intel (x86) code to Arm, and a graphics layer such as DXMT or D3DMetal turns DirectX into Apple's Metal. Nothing is emulated wholesale and no copy of Windows is installed, which is why this route is usually faster than a virtual machine. Games live in small, separate Windows-like environments — Wine prefixes, which most of these tools call bottles. The DirectX guide explains the graphics side.

CrossOver (CodeWeavers)

The commercial Wine product, and the most complete. CrossOver 26 (February 2026; 26.3 in July) ships Wine 11.0, D3DMetal 3.0 for DirectX 11/12 and DXMT, plus a large database of install recipes. CodeWeavers is a major contributor to Wine itself, so buying it also funds Wine development. It has a 14-day free trial, then a paid licence (in the EU store: €74 for 12 months of updates and support, €484 for life). After the 12 months it keeps working; you just stop getting new versions. CrossOver 27, planned for early 2027, will be Apple Silicon and macOS Sonoma+ only.

Grapple (us)

A Mac app focused on games: its own Wine 11.0-based engine with DXMT for DirectX 10/11 and Apple's D3DMetal for DirectX 9 to 12, one-click Windows Steam setup that fixes Steam's black window, and your games grouped by launcher with their Windows environments managed for you. Apple Silicon and macOS 14+ only. D3DMetal comes with the app: Grapple fetches it and the engine in a one-time setup download of about 250 MB, so you never go looking for a toolkit. The Free plan never expires and runs one game — claimed the first time you play it, swappable once every 30 days, with launchers and Windows tools never counting as that game; Pro plays your whole library. Grapple is in beta and far younger than CrossOver, and we publish results per game only as we test them — see our honest comparison.

Sikarugir (formerly Kegworks)

A free successor to Wineskin that wraps each Windows program into its own Mac app. It offers DXMT by default plus D3DMetal and DXVK toggles, needs macOS 14.6+ and Rosetta 2, and is actively maintained on GitHub. More hands-on than CrossOver, but very capable.

Heroic Games Launcher

A free, open-source (GPLv3) launcher for Epic, GOG and Amazon Prime Gaming libraries. On macOS it can download Wine builds or use the Game Porting Toolkit to run the Windows versions of your games. A great pick if your library isn't on Steam.

Mythic

A free, open-source Mac launcher built around its own build of Apple's Game Porting Toolkit, with Epic Games support today (Steam support is listed as in progress). macOS 14+.

Whisky (discontinued)

Whisky was the popular free choice until its developer stopped work in April 2025 and archived it on 11 May 2025, recommending CrossOver instead. It still opens for many people, but gets no fixes. Our Whisky alternatives guide covers where to go next.

Apple's Game Porting Toolkit, directly

Apple's toolkit is a free developer tool for evaluating Windows games on a Mac. Gamers use its D3DMetal layer for DirectX 12, but running it by hand means Terminal work. Most people use it through one of the apps above — CrossOver and Grapple include D3DMetal, the others can use a copy you install — see Game Porting Toolkit GUIs.

Want the full shopping list, free and paid? Read CrossOver alternatives. Playing through Steam? Start with Windows Steam on a Mac.

Virtual machines (Parallels)

Parallels Desktop runs a full copy of Windows 11 for Arm next to macOS. Windows then runs most Intel games through its own emulation. It's the most "it's just Windows" option, and ideal for Windows software that isn't a game.

For games, Parallels itself lists the limits on Apple Silicon:

• 3D acceleration goes up to DirectX 11.1 and OpenGL 4.3, so DirectX 12-only games won't run.
• Some of the latest AAA games may not launch.
• Anti-cheat drivers generally refuse to run in a virtual machine or lack an Arm version, so most anti-cheat games are out.

You also pay twice: a Parallels subscription plus a Windows licence. And because you run a second operating system, there's less memory and GPU time left for the game.

Cloud gaming

Cloud services run the game on a real Windows PC in a data centre and stream video to your Mac. Your chip barely matters; your internet connection matters a lot.

• GeForce NOW has a native Apple Silicon Mac app. You stream games you own on supported stores (Steam, Epic and others). There's a free membership with ads before sessions and shorter sessions, and paid tiers for longer, higher-quality play.
• Xbox Cloud Gaming works in a browser on the Mac and is part of Xbox Game Pass. Microsoft has announced monthly cloud-gaming hour limits per Game Pass tier from November 2026.

Cloud gaming is the one route where many anti-cheat games work — but only titles the service has licensed, and with some input latency.

What about Boot Camp?

Boot Camp let Intel Macs boot straight into Windows. It doesn't exist on Apple Silicon: Apple's Boot Camp Assistant guide covers Intel-based Macs only. If you have an older Intel Mac, Boot Camp is still the fastest way to run Windows games on it. On M-series Macs, use the methods above.

M1, M2, M3, M4: does the chip matter?

The method is the same on every Apple Silicon Mac; there's no special trick for any one chip. What changes is performance:

• GPU cores matter most. A base chip is fine for older and indie titles, but heavier recent 3D games are GPU-bound on it: in our own testing, a recent Unreal Engine 5 game kept a base M4's GPU at 100% at Medium settings. On base chips, plan on Low settings (or a lower render resolution); a Pro or Max chip gives you headroom for more.
• Memory. The GPU shares system memory. 16 GB or more gives modern games room to breathe; 8 GB works for lighter games.
• macOS version. Newer macOS releases bring Metal and Rosetta improvements that translation layers rely on. Many tools, including Grapple, need macOS 14 Sonoma or later.

What won't run

• Kernel-level anti-cheat — Valorant (Riot Vanguard) and many competitive shooters. Wine doesn't provide the real Windows kernel these drivers expect, and virtual machines are usually blocked. Details in anti-cheat games on a Mac.
• Games that need Windows drivers, such as some copy protection or hardware peripherals with Windows-only software.
• VR games: there's no practical way to drive a PC VR headset from macOS.
• DirectX 12 games are hit and miss everywhere except the cloud; they need D3DMetal, and even then not every game works.

Performance: what to expect

Honest expectations, whatever tool you pick:

• Translation isn't free. A game usually runs slower than a native Mac port on the same machine, and slower than on a PC with a similar GPU.
• Expect some stutter the first time you see new areas or effects while shaders are translated and cached; it usually settles down.
• Older and lighter games ask the least of the GPU, so they're the best place to start. Brand-new AAA games are the least predictable.
• Results change with every Wine, DXMT, D3DMetal and macOS update — a game that fails today may work next month, and occasionally the reverse.

Rosetta 2 and macOS 27

Almost every Windows game is Intel (x86) code, and today's Wine-based tools — CrossOver, Sikarugir, Heroic, Mythic and Grapple included — rely on Rosetta 2 to run it on Apple Silicon. On 1 September 2026 Apple said macOS 27 is the last release to support Rosetta for Intel apps, and that Rosetta functionality for older, unmaintained games that rely on Intel-based frameworks will continue to be supported.

Exactly what that means for Wine-based tools after macOS 27 isn't clear yet. CodeWeavers is already testing an Arm-native CrossOver 27 preview. Nothing changes for macOS 27 itself; we'll update this page as Apple and the Wine community publish details.

FAQ