Playing video games on Mac is heart wrenching
I’ve written before about how I recently became an Apple devotee. I was previously an Android-and-Windows all the way kind of person. In my pension, I own shares in Microsoft because I believe their system is ‘better’ in some intangible way – selling software and letting others innovate in the hardware space. Apple is a different proposition, and one that should attract games and gamers, if the iPhone and consoles were a guide. Games are missing, leading me to wonder where are all the Mac games?
The death of Apple
First, some history: Back in 1997, it looked clear that Windows had won, and the Amigas, Ataris, Acorns, and Apples of the world were dying off (why did they all start with A? There are more, Amstrad, Spectrum, Commodore, but most began with A).
iMac, iPod, iPhone…
Amiga and Atari did die, which was sad, but Apple was resurrected by the iMac (1998), iPod (2001), and iPhone (2007)1. These three devices turned around the only closed-ecosystem computer company and gave Microsoft a genuine competitor. Google has entered the computer space, to an extent, but Chromebooks feel like a solution looking for a problem in my humble opinion.
My conversion
When I got an iPhone for the first time, I had been looking for a new computer for nearly two years. When I learned about Apple Silicon, I decided that that was the answer – the MacBook Pro 16 (M1 Pro). I haven’t looked back – the computer’s battery lasts forever, integrates pretty well with iPhone and AirPods, and it’s lightning (ahem) fast. Later I got a Mac Mini (M2) as well, to take advantage of my monitor, mouse, and keyboard setup in the office. The fact that, with my MacBook Pro on my desk, I can move the mouse between the Mac Mini and the MacBook Pro is just ridiculously convenient and cool.
Why no Gaming on Mac?
I said I haven’t looked back. And in the sense that looking back is boolean, I haven’t. But if there was one way I have looked back, it’s with gaming. I can play Civilization VI on the Mac through Steam, and I have an Xbox Series X so I don’t need to game on a computer, but the power of the Apple Silicon chips feels wasted on me when I see games like Phantom Brigade, Returnal, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, or even Control, being Windows-only. Especially Mirage – it was in the iPhone 15 launch video as a game coming to iPhone – why not Mac on day one?
I recently used Augustus to play Caesar 3 on Mac. It’s amazingly clever and I tried to look at the open source code to work out how it works, but gave up before I succeeded.
I wish more games were available for Mac.
If I were Apple – the richest company in the world – I would pay PlayStation-only developers (including Sony) to port their games to Mac, and to simultaneously launch new ones on Mac too. MacOS has 11% market share, which is small, sure, but it’s also the wealthiest 11% of consumers. Hear me: I would buy your AAA game, just to show support! I might buy Death Stranding when it comes out, although I’m not sure whether it’s to my taste.
As a strategic argument, PlayStation games now often come to Windows and not Xbox. Why support Microsoft in any situation, Sony? Make your PlayStation exclusives for PlayStation and MacOS!
Footnotes
1 Note, Acorn didn’t really die. Their RISC-based processors were widely recognized as pretty great and so Acorn span-off ARM, which is now the processor architecture of Apple Silicon on Mac, AppleTV, Apple Watch, iPhone, Google Pixel, and new Microsoft Surfaces. If any of the Microsoft/Intel competitors won, other than Apple, it could be argued it’s ARM (More information).
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