Apple’s latest M1 chip-based MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac mini support CrossOver 20 for running Windows games. CrossOver is based on the open-source Wine project that enables users to run some 32-bit Windows games and apps on Linux and macOS. This eliminates the need to install Windows to run these games.
Recently a YouTuber by the name of “MrMacRight” posted a video in which he tested 33 games on Apple’s M1 Macs. Previously we covered another video from MrMacRight in which he tested The Witcher 3, Hitman 2, Skyrim, and more.
33 games tested on M1 MacBook Pro
In the new YouTube video, MrMacRight tested various games on his 13-inch M1 MacBook Pro. He tried updated games using ARM64 updates, Rosetta 2, Parallels 16, and CrossOver 20. We have covered a few of the games from his YouTube video.
Recently a number of Apple Arcade games have been optimized for Mac with M1. With native resolution, 60 FPS is supported. It includes:
- Way of The Turtle
- All of You
- Populus Run
- Spaceland
- Patterned
Populus Run and Space land can be played with their highest video settings. Even though these games are not the most-high end games out there, but it shows that porting your game to M1 is not just limited to big video game development studios.
Alien Isolation
The first game that was tested was Alien Isolation. Initially, MrMacRight thought that the game was unplayable on Apple M1 as it was stuck around 10 FPS. However, after exploring the video settings, he discovered enabling SSAO completely destroys the performance of the game.
SSAO is enabled by default. By turning the SSAO off, he managed to play at 1600×900 on his 13-inch MacBook Pro with a mix of medium and high settings which allowed the game to run pretty smoothly. On Mac mini, the resolution was tested at 1920x1080p with all the settings set to medium. The performance was pretty average, given that Alien Isolation gets respectable performance on older Mac hardware.
Additionally, the game is openGL running under Rosetta 2, if it were optimized for M1, it would match up with maximum dedicated graphics.
BioShock Remastered
BioShock Remastered was tested by MrMacRight in the past, but according to him the game is “worth taking a look at”. Even though the game is a remaster of a 2007 game, it managed to work smoothly, providing over 100 fps on 13-inch MacBook Pro and Mac Mini at maximum settings with VSYNC switched off.
BioShock was among the first blockbuster game to support MacBook Pro’s touch bar in 2017. By using the touch bar, a player could switch between different superpowers of the character.
Fallout 4
Fallout 4 was highly requested by the viewers to test it on an Apple M1 chip. MrMacRight reported that the game was running incredibly. On MacBook Air via CrossOver at 1080p with medium settings, the game generated about 30 to 40 FPS, however, in combat situations it dragged down to around 20 to 30 FPS.
Minor glitches could be noticed but none that seem to be breaking the gameplay or immersion-breaking. There were a few fixes to get the game running, the video for that can be found in MrMacRight’s YouTube video description.
Crusader Kings III
Most modern Mac games support metal API, but for some reason, Crusader Kings 3 is running under OpenGL, this might be a significant factor in its poor performance. At any graphic’s preset, the frame rate was from 15-40 fps.
For someone who wants to play Crusader Kings 3 on their M1 Macs, they should have an “okay experience”. The game does not benefit from a dramatically high frame rate.
PAYDAY 2
PAYDAY 2 managed to run “okay” on M1 MacBook Air via CrossOver 20 but with some graphical glitches. Overall, the game is quite playable.
CS:GO
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive can be played on M1 devices. Previously, with macOS Big Sur 11.2, CS:GO was facing issues that would preclude it from going past the intro. On 13-inch MacBook Pro at 1080p, high frame rates produced 60-80 FPS. Playing with low settings would give it 70 to over 100 FPS at times.
Other games tested on Apple M1 Mac include:
- Aragami
- Outlast
- The Sims 2
- The Long Dark
- GTA IV
- LEGO: The Incredibles
- Celeste
- Moto Racer 4
- F1 2016
- Factorio
- Yooka-Laylee
- Skul: The Hero Slayer
- Dark Souls: Remastered
- CARRION
- Pathfinder: Kingmaker – EPE
- Thief
- The Bard’s Tale IV: DC
- The Elder Scrolls Online
- A Plague Tale: Innocence
- SUPERHOT: MCD
You can visit AppleSiliconGames for a detailed list of the games available to play on Apple Silicon machines. You can see the full YouTube video below:
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