I created a script that automates the setup to run Windows games via Windows Steam on Apple Silicon. The goal is “one button”: run the script, let it do the boring parts, and you end up in the Windows version of Steam ready to install games and play.

It uses free Wine (no paid CrossOver required).

• A quick start: run one script and it takes care of the setup.
• Easy re-runs: if you run it again later, it will reuse what’s already installed.
• Easy cleanup: there is an uninstall script that removes everything it downloaded/created if you don't need it anymore.

Inspired by this guide (huge thanks to the author):
https://www.reddit.com/r/macgaming/comments/1r8vsnj/how_to_play_windows_steam_games_on_mac_with_m

What the script does:

• Automates all steps from post above:
  • Installs Rosetta 2 if you don’t have it yet.
  • Downloads Wine.
  • Creates/uses a Wine prefix and runs Steam.
  • Downloads DXMT and enables it for Wine.
• It also includes a few extras on top of the post, like a couple of Wine mouse/input registry tweaks.
• Launches Steam automatically.
• You can easily uninstall all downloaded stuff if you don't need it.

Tested on my MBP M1 Max 32GB, macOS Sequoia 15.7.4.

Also tested on CS2 at 1920x1200 on low settings, getting a mostly stable ~80-100 FPS (with occasional micro-stutters). There’s a small mouse feel issue (slow micro-movements can feel a bit “off”), but it’s playable and you can get used to it.

Script + guide here: https://github.com/ByMedion/macos-wine-steam

If you try it and hit issues (or find better performance tweaks), I’d love feedback and PRs.

Genuinely whats the harm in keeping it? There will always be applications or games that havent been updated and wont update so why not just keep it available? Or at least as an option to download it if you want?

Update: now also supports Bejeweled 2, Bejeweled 3, Plants vs. Zombies, Chuzzle Deluxe, and Zuma Deluxe! Renamed to PopSilicon.

Hey there,

I've released a small tool called PeggleSilicon, which lets you take your own copy of Peggle Deluxe (Mac version, 32-bit Intel app) and modify it to run under a 64-bit Intel wrapper via Rosetta, with translated API support for macOS 11+.

If you have the Steam version installed, it auto-detects this and the installer automatically modifies your copy of the game!

This means you can play Peggle Deluxe (and Peggle Nights!) on your modern Mac without any frame drops and without using tools like Parallels or VMware which are pretty heavy for getting a quick dose of Peggle!

I've playtested the whole of adventure mode on my M4 Mac mini and it runs perfectly, with one caveat (fullscreen mode doesn't work yet, this will be fixed soon fixed thanks to u/boldspot45 contribution!).

If you want to try it, the GitHub repo is here, and it has a graphical installer too!
https://github.com/JacksonDam/PeggleSilicon

I've been working on various ways to get Peggle running on modern macOS for the past couple of weeks - including a full decomp which is coming down the road, but thanks u/ysingdotus for the inspiration to pursue the Rosetta route a little further!

macOS Tahoe will be the last release for Intel-based Mac computers. Those systems will continue to receive security updates for 3 years.

Rosetta was designed to make the transition to Apple silicon easier, and we plan to make it available for the next two major macOS releases – through macOS 27 – as a general-purpose tool for Intel apps to help developers complete the migration of their apps. Beyond this timeframe, we will keep a subset of Rosetta functionality aimed at supporting older unmaintained gaming titles, that rely on Intel-based frameworks.

Hi all, sorry if this is a silly question, but this is my first time encountering this popup. 🥹 I recently upgraded from a 2019 Macbook Pro to a Macbook Air M5 and I wanted to download Steam to play Stardew Valley with my friends again.

I did a little research and I know that Rosetta is needed to play other games, but it won’t let me skip downloading Rosetta to install Steam itself for some reason? 🥲 Apparently Stardew doesn’t need it, and it’s the only game I play (+ I don’t play with mods) so I don’t think I need Rosetta(?) Is there a way to bypass the popup? 😭

EDIT: Thank you to those who replied! 🙏 I had read a post about there being a Silicon-native version so I thought I had downloaded the wrong one, but apparently it’s still in Beta 🥹

Now, games like Horizon Forbidden West, Alan Wake 2, The Last of Us Part II, Spider-Man 2, Ghost of Tsushima, and others no longer require patches. WWE 2K25 also works!

To activate the instructions you must specify ROSETTA_ADVERTISE_AVX=1 in the launch parameters of Steam or Crossover.

Earlier today I made a post where I got Lego Clone Wars and Lego Pirates, 32 bit only MacOS games running through Rosetta. I was able to use the same method to get Portal 2 working! This is a modified version of the MacOS depot of Portal 2, running on Apple Silicon. I will probably try to do a full run and get in some more optimizations and fixes before releasing something.

Edit: Branch link: https://github.com/Yash-Singh1/lego-mac-compat/tree/portal2, There is a GUI app which makes the process a lot easier in the releases https://github.com/Yash-Singh1/lego-mac-compat/releases/tag/portal2-converter-v0.0.0-dev.1

Currently fixing POSIX/macOS compatibility in the GPU layer (libgow3gpu.dylib) and Vulkan shims.

This works by wrapping the 32-bit MacOS app bundle in a Intel loader and running it through Rosetta with compatibility patches.

You can find the Converter app here: https://github.com/Yash-Singh1/lego-mac-compat/releases/tag/tfu-converter-v0.0.0-dev.1

It should work with the latest Steam release and the older Aspyr release.

Currently it only supports Lego Pirates of the Caribbean and Lego Star Wars III - Clone Wars, I might add support for more later. It might also be possible to use the same approach to porting other older Intel 32-bit only games to modern MacOS.

Repo link: https://github.com/Yash-Singh1/lego-mac-compat

You need a copy of the Mac version of the game to play this. Instructions on patching in the repo.

(This was posted by an admin in the GameHub for Mac Discord server. This is not my writing.)

Beta invites will be rolling out throughout this week — hang tight! 👀

In the meantime, here are answers to some frequently asked questions.

\*1. We already have CrossOver — why do we need GameHub?***

GameHub features a beautiful frontend. Think of it as a game launcher: log in with your Steam/Epic account, download and play games directly — no tedious setup, no configuration headaches, no expertise required. It just works out of the box. We also maintain cloud-hosted translation profiles tailored to every chip and every game, all in service of one thing: playing games. CrossOver, by contrast, is more of a general-purpose UI wrapper around Wine. I'm sure you're just as tired of the sluggish, crash-prone Steam client — GameHub tackles that pain point head-on. Down the road, we'll also support console mode and game streaming, meaning you can hook your Mac up to a TV and turn it into a full-blown gaming console. How cool is that?

\*2. What is GameHub's relationship with the existing open-source ecosystem? Is GameHub just a CrossOver wrapper that diverts funding from CodeWeavers and fractures the community?***

This is a complete misconception. GameHub's mission is to push game compatibility technology forward, not to slap a shell on someone else's work. We've invested heavily in the following areas, and we're committed to giving back:

- Wine improvements and game compatibility are always our top priority. We're dedicated to enhancing Wine's compatibility with deeper optimizations for Android and macOS. All source code and patches will be fully open-sourced at launch and kept up to date.

- We're developing a next-generation CPU translator called \*cross86** internally, preparing for a future where Rosetta 2 may be deprecated. It will deliver stronger game compatibility and better performance. When it's ready, we promise it will be open-sourced as well.*

- We're also going deep on graphics API translation. DXMT was a great starting point, and we're now building an in-house \*DX12 → Metal** layer to replace GPTK. It will also be open-sourced at the appropriate time.*

\*3. Is GameHub free?***

During the early stages, GameHub will be completely free. We do plan to introduce a subscription tier in the future — the free version will remain available but may have some feature limitations. The reasoning is straightforward: a fully free product can't sustain the enormous R&D costs needed to keep this project moving forward. We all want this to go the distance, and that takes funding.

So — what would you be willing to pay for a subscription? We'd love to hear your thoughts.

Come on, let's get it running on Mac Silicon too!

If you have a Steam version of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (not the Remastered version) you can run the native 32-bit version through Rosetta on modern MacOS (apple silicon only for now). Multiplayer works but some of the maps have graphical glitches that I need to work on.

Release link: https://github.com/Yash-Singh1/lego-mac-compat/releases/tag/cod4-converter-v0.0.0-dev.2

yes the Imagen was compressed, (reddit 20mb limit)

I was able to compile and run a custom version of the KytyPS5 emulator on macOS. A lot of work is still needed, but I wanted to see the current state of macOS support.

Disclaimer: all the hard work goes to the KytyPS5 contributors, not me.

This custom version I built contains multiple PRs from the KytyPS5 GitHub related to macOS support (MoltenVK and Rosetta 2).

I used a custom fork of MoltenVK and SPIRV-Cross (Vulkan to Metal library) that contains mesh shader support (VK_EXT_mesh_shader), which is required for 3D PS5 games. I also added some simple patches of my own.

Some debugging shows that Astro's Playroom is causing issues with MSL (Metal Shader Language) compilation, which is beyond my knowledge.

It appears that there is textures issues with Unreal Engine games and Sony's in-house engine has MSL issues. Looks like Unity games run fine!

I ported the 32-bit OS X releases for MW2 & MW3

https://github.com/Yash-Singh1/lego-mac-compat/releases/tag/mw2-converter-v0.0.0-dev.1

https://github.com/Yash-Singh1/lego-mac-compat/releases/tag/mw3-converter-v0.0.0-dev.1

Hey folks,

Just wanted to share this because I’ve been tinkering with Euro Truck Simulator 2 and American Truck Simulator on macOS and finally found a setup that feels actually playable.

A lot of people recommend CrossOver, but honestly… I’ve had mixed results with it. Controller support was flaky, FPS was all over the place (so many stutters). If you do use CrossOver, make sure to enable DXMT -- that helps a ton with DirectX translation and it did for me. But still, less than ideal.

That said, the native macOS build + MoltenVK combo absolutely crushed it for me! I only found out about this recently.

IMPORTANT: The MoltenVK option for ETS2/ATS is EXPERIMENTAL! I wouldn't go into using this expecting it will be a smooth experience. For me, it worked really well -- but be warned.

How to enable MoltenVK support?

Firstly, download the normal macOS version of ETS2/ATS from Steam. I also recommend enabling Steam Beta as that will give you the "native" version of the client, which is so fast*.*

Assuming you've launched the game at least once (defaults to OpenGL), let's do this:

1. Open Library via Finder
2. Now navigate to "Application Support"
3. Go into the game folder (either "Euro Truck Simulator 2" or "American Truck Simulator"
4. Open the "config.cfg" file with a text editor (e.g. Visual Studio Code, Zed, Sublime Text, etc).
5. Find this line:
   1. uset r_device "gl"
6. Replace it with:
   1. uset r_device "vk"
7. Save file and relaunch game, that's it!

Results & Performance

These are my specs and game settings:

• MacBook Air M1 (16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD)
• Preset = Medium
• Scaling = 90%
• Resolution = 2560x1440 (external display, docked but internal is open)

After running each one for about 10 mins (driving in cities and highway), here are the results:

ATS:

• OpenGL (default) = 15-30 FPS (stutters, uber laggy in cities)
• MoltenVK = 30-60 FPS (DOUBLED!)
  • Note: No mods were enabled for both ATS gameplays

ETS2:

• OpenGL (default) = 15-25 FPS
• MoltenVK = 25-50
  • Note: 8 mods enabled, mainly sound, fuel price and weather mods. No graphics enhancing mods. Might be able to get more FPS if I disable all mods!

DualSense (PS5) controller support is also fantastic. No dramas there. I'll have to test the Logitech G920 again as well but I don't expect any force feedback.

Conclusion

Give it a go! It's easy and the performance increase was incredible. I've had enough of trying to use another PC for a quick game of ETS2/ATS, now I can run it using MoltenVK renderer instead. CrossOver was very problematic for me and I prefer to just have one instance of Steam.

Any questions, feel free to pop them in here -- I'll do my best to answer them. :)

No longer working with WINE@Devel package unfortunately

The great Gcenx made it possible to use Rosettax87_jit with the WINE package available on brew.

In this guide we assume you already installed Fallout New Vegas to your desktop folder - presumably $HOME/Desktop/games/Fallout New Vegas

Step 1 — Download rosettax87_jit

Create the destination folder, download the archive, then extract it:

mkdir -p $HOME/Desktop/rosettax87jit

curl -LO https://github.com/Lifeisawful/rosettax87_jit/releases/download/latest/rosettax87-jit-macos-arm64.tar.gz

tar -xzf rosettax87-jit-macos-arm64.tar.gz -C $HOME/Desktop/rosettax87jit --strip-components=1

Step 2 — Remove the quarantine flag

macOS will block the binary by default. Remove the quarantine attribute so it's allowed to run:

xattr -d com.apple.quarantine $HOME/Desktop/rosettax87jit/runtime_loader

Step 3 — Install WINE

You can either install devel or staging. I opted for devel.

brew install --cask wine@devel

Don't have Homebrew? Get it at brew.sh

Step 4 — Download and extract d9vk

d9vk translates Direct3D 9 calls to Vulkan/Metal for much better compatibility and performance. Made possible by the great Rhed0x:

curl -LO https://github.com/Sikarugir-App/d9vk/releases/download/v1.10.3-20250511/d9vk-macOS-async-v1.10.3-20250511.tar.gz

tar -xzf d9vk-macOS-async-v1.10.3-20250511.tar.gz

Step 5 — Copy d3d9.dll into your game folder

Grab the 32-bit DLL and drop it into game folder. Run this from the folder where you extracted d9vk

cp d9vk-macOS-async-v1.10.3-20250511/x32/d3d9.dll "$HOME/Desktop/games/Fallout New Vegas/"

Step 6 — Launch your game

cd "$HOME/Desktop/games/Fallout New Vegas/"

ROSETTA_X87_PATH="$HOME/Desktop/rosettax87jit/runtime_loader" \

MVK_CONFIG_SYNCHRONOUS_QUEUE_SUBMITS=1 \

DXVK_ASYNC=1 \

MTL_HUD_ENABLED=1 \

WINEDLLOVERRIDES="d3d9=n" \

WINE_DISABLE_NX_COMPAT=1 \

wine ./FalloutNV.exe

If everything is working correctly you will see the Metal Performance HUD show the game rendering at 60 FPS.

M4 16gb, Running with Sikarugir because I'm too broke to buy Crossover

GameHub's own DXMT is implementing Directx12 support. The contributor named yuemingruoan commited some code on https://github.com/gamesir-labs/dxmt and also shared screenshot on discord. Note that, this code is not commited in the main dxmt's github till now.

I am so excited because of the performance of Directx11 on DXMT is so too much stable and good. sometimes better than Apple's GPTK. On my m1 mac, GTA V run pretty much smooth both GPTK and DXMT. but on GPTK sometimes get minor shutter. on the same settings (1080p High) there has no lag or shutter on DXMT and 55-60fps I have gotten so far. So I think directx12 on dxmt will be open some posibilites on mac gaming.

Hey there,

Previously I posted about Peggle (32-bit Intel Mac version) running on modern macOS via Rosetta with PeggleSilicon (64-bit Intel wrapper + compatibility library with translated API support).

That tool is now PopSilicon, and lets you play Peggle Deluxe, Peggle Nights, Bejeweled 2, Bejeweled 3, Plants vs. Zombies GOTY Edition, Chuzzle Deluxe, and Zuma Deluxe with optimal performance (especially nice on ProMotion displays), and no more Wine, VMware, or Parallels needed for a quick dose of these relatively lightweight games!

If you have the Steam versions installed for the games, it auto-detects this and the installer automatically modifies your copy of the games!

Supports macOS 11+ on Apple silicon, if you'd like to try it the repo is here:
https://github.com/JacksonDam/PopSilicon

Could pose a future problem for Mac gaming as tools like GPTK and Crossover depend on Rosetta to do translations of x86 instructions.

I would like to share: I successful install Steam and play Counter-strike 2 on my Mac M1 Pro

After trying serveral tools such as whisky, crossover (paid) , game porting kit.
I finally assume Sikarugir is the best FREE porting kit for Mac right now.

- Link Sikarugir: https://github.com/Sikarugir-App/Sikarugir
- Install tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCgYxRPIqjE

My graphics setting is MEDIUM, Resolution 1680x1050, Frame rate: 55~60 FPS

Notes:
- Whisky, game porting kit, etc could not play stream games because of downloading errors. it's seem no longer update.
- Crossover is the best approach, easy to install and play, it not free, you have to annually paid to update new versions.

- Sikarugir is the best free approach.

Got both Multiplayer and Zombies working through Plutonium by using Claude+REA. Can't believe how smooth it runs + stable 120fps. M1 Pro 16GB for reference.

GitHub: https://github.com/sirdankdabs/bo2-plutonium-macos

AI made it, so feel free to do whatever you wish with the source code! Have fun.

Notes: When selecting the game folder in Plutonium, go to: My Computer > Z: > Users > Your Username > Find the game folder from there.

Enable Sync Every Frame on graphics settings for smoother gameplay.

I made a free installer that gets skate. (EA's free-to-play one) running on Apple Silicon Macs through ReSkate. You don't need CrossOver or anything else paid.

Repo: https://github.com/ValveTextureFile/reskatem

How it runs: M4 w. 16gb RAM running macOS 26.3, max res w/ low graphic settings, roughly about 45-50 fps. A little slow, but is pretty playable.

Under the hood it's Wine + D3DMetal from Apple's Game Porting Toolkit, so the game's x86 code runs through Rosetta 2 and the DX12 graphics are translated to Metal. Nothing is natively ported.

You run one Terminal command (or a .command file if you'd rather not paste curl into a terminal) and it:

• installs Gcenx's build of Apple's Game Porting Toolkit (Wine + D3DMetal for the DX12 graphics)
• creates a Windows environment and installs the VC++ runtime
• downloads the game from Steam with your own account. You log in by scanning a QR code with the Steam app on your phone, so your password never goes into the script.
• installs ReSkate and adds a skate. (ReSkate) app to Applications

Running it again updates everything and only downloads the game files that changed. It also comes with an uninstaller and a diagnostics command that zips up your logs (with your username removed) so you can share them.

Requirements: Apple Silicon (no Intel, since D3DMetal is ARM-only), macOS 14+, about 18 GB free, 16 GB RAM recommended.

Heads up:

1. The first launch can sit on a black screen for a few minutes while shaders compile.
2. Insert opens the ReSkate menu. Mac keyboards don't have that key, so you can change it in the launcher settings.
3. It's offline only, with no EA servers.

All the credit goes to the ReSkate devs, Gcenx for the GPTK builds, and DepotDownloader. I just wired them together. This isn't affiliated with EA or Full Circle, and the repo doesn't include or share any game files.

It's only been tested on my Macbook Air so far, so results on other chips are very welcome, especially 8 GB machines.