It seems like Apple really wants developers to port their games to Mac. One of the new features in macOS Sonoma is Game Mode, which Apple claims improves gaming performance on Apple Silicon Macs. But there’s something else Apple has done to turn the Mac into a gaming platform, and that includes allowing developers to easily port Windows games to Mac with a new Game Porting Toolkit.Apple Game Porting Toolkit
Running Windows games on macOS is actually nothing new. There are platforms like Wine and Crossover that translate APIs in Microsoft’s operating system so that Mac computers can run Windows software. With macOS Sonoma, Apple is implementing similar solutions directly into the system, so it will be even easier for developers to bring their PC games to the Mac.
The company has released a new Game Porting Toolkit to help developers run their games on Mac with little or no effort. Interestingly, Apple’s Game Porting Toolkit is based on Wine, a popular open source platform that translates Windows software to Unix environments (like macOS and Linux).But Apple does more than just run these games on macOS. As announced by the company, Game Porting Tool can also convert DirectX 12 to Metal 3. For those who don’t know, DirectX is a universal API available on Windows and Xbox consoles that handles graphics processing and game audio, similar to Apple’s Metal API.
Native game creation on macOS
Some games can run smoothly without a single change to the code. Apple used The Medium as an example. Apple also states that the native macOS version of the game runs even better on the same hardware, with almost twice the frame rate.
After using the Game Porting Toolkit to test a Windows game on macOS, developers can use new tools to convert DirectX graphics to Metal. As a result, according to Apple, the game can run natively with much better performance. The macOS Sonoma SDK also helps developers take advantage of other native system features like game controllers, Spatial Audio, and HDR video support.Game Mode
In addition to the Game Porting Toolkit, developers will also be able to take advantage of Game Mode built into macOS Sonoma. According to Apple, when Game Mode is active, the system prioritizes the game being run. Bluetooth latency is significantly reduced for AirPods, the Bluetooth sampling rate is doubled for PlayStation and Xbox controllers, and the game is given higher GPU and CPU priority, resulting in more stable and sustained frame rates. All this happens automatically for all Mac games, including new and upcoming games.As a result, the time required to transfer games to Mac will be greatly reduced with the Game Porting Toolkit. The process, which is freed from complex analyzes, is reduced to a simple structure as much as possible. For those who are familiar, what Apple did is actually very similar to what Proton did for Steam Deck. Game Porting Toolkit is available on GitHub as fully open source licensed. After that, it’s up to the developers.
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