Mac gaming officially died on February 24th, 2000. That's the day that MacRumors launched. Ever since then, we've been helpfully reminded that Macs aren't for gaming, on a regular basis, as is tradition.
Instead of discussing games that are currently in development for the Mac, those that are soon to be released, or have recently been released, the self-proclaimed realists on this forum inform us that we should just get PCs or consoles and give up on the Mac for games. This is news to Mac gamers, such as myself, who have enjoyed playing Mac games for years now.
I would say that 80% of the computer games that I play are isometric turn-based RPGs, which are plentiful on the Mac. In fact, essentially all of these titles have a Mac native version, having parity with Windows PCs. Off the top of my head, there's Baldur's Gate 3, Solasta, Pathfinder, ATOM RPG, Black Geyser, Disco Elysium, the Dungeon of Naheulbeuk, and Wasteland 3, all of which have been released within the past couple of years, some of which have expansions currently in development. Some of these are Apple Silicon native, others work fine using Rosetta 2. Similarly, if you enjoy strategy games, there are also a wide selection for the Mac.
After mentioning this, I'm told "just because it's okay for you, doesn't mean that it is for everyone". It's a shame watching the straw man genocide happening right before my eyes.
Apple Silicon Macs make for perfectly serviceable gaming machines. Everyone knows that they will never have the same selection that are available on PC, but saying that Mac gaming is dead is pure hyperbole.
There seems to be three different types of posters in this discussion:
1. Users who are primarily concerned about gaming, the Mac is secondary to that consideration, therefore eliminated by default. For them, a gaming PC or console is the best solution.
2. Mac users who also want to use them for gaming. These are people who own a Mac, want to use it for gaming purposes, and realize that compromises will have to be made.
3. Windows PC partisans who specifically come here to proselytize about how great the PC is, that us Mac heathens should change our ways, only post benchmarks that demonstrate PC's undisputed superiority, and constantly move goalposts in bad faith arguments. These people are easy to spot, but sometimes fool new posters, because they assume that everyone here is arguing in good faith, which is not the case.
I'm only concerned with people in category number 2. That's why I highlight upcoming game releases and discuss solutions to run Windows-only titles.
Some of those options are currently on the market, others are being worked on. Everyone knows that Macs will never have the same selection as PCs. Hence, Mac gamers are going to have to make compromises. Fortunately, there are multiple teams working on different solutions. CodeWeavers is working on DirectX 12 support for CrossOver. Parallels continues to improve running Arm Windows through virtualization. As I highlighted in a previous post, the Asahi Linux team is working on Proton support for Apple Silicon. The Asahi team in particular has made tremendous progress.
I've always been of the opinion that I don't need access to all computer games, just enough to be satisfied while gaming on my Mac. I have no interest in getting a console. I don't want to go through the duplication of a building a gaming PC and absolutely hate using Windows.
CodeWeavers, Parallels, Asahi Linux, and Apple itself are all working on bringing game support to the Mac, in one form or another. If Mac gaming was dead, then there would be no profit in these ventures. If you want to game primarily on the Mac, then there will always be compromises, and many of us are okay with that. That's not going to be enough for the gaming first crowd, which is fine, there are plenty options for those who want a Windows PC. That will never be enough for the PC partisans, but there's no point in engaging with people who are fighting a religious war.
