A new emulator from Apple meant for game developers is capable enough to run high-end titles such as Cyperpunk 2077 and Diablo IV on a Mac.
The emulator is part of a new “Game Porting Toolkit” that Apple introduced at this week’s WWDC event to bring more Windows games to macOS. While the emulator is meant for testing and evaluation purposes, the same software can also run DirectX12 titles on a Mac — a platform that has received far less gaming support compared to Windows.
That caused one user, a 16-year-old programmer in London named Isaac Marovitz, to test whether the Game Porting Toolkit could be used to simply play Windows games. It turns out the emulator can do just that. In a video, Marovitz showed the emulator running Cyberpunk 2077 over a 16GB MacBook equipped with Apple’s M1 chip.
On the downside, the emulator can only run Cyberpunk 2077 at around 15 frames per second. But the tool can also be used to run other titles, such as Elden Ring and even Diablo IV, which can run at around 55 to 88 frames per second over the emulator.
Apple hasn’t commented on whether it could make the emulator directly available to consumers. But it's based on open-source computer code from CodeWeavers, the company behind Wine and CrossOver, two projects that can run Windows apps on Macs. Last week, CodeWeaver also announced it's working on bringing DirectX12 support to CrossOver.
Apple's emulator also includes support for DirectX12. Thus, the tool could make it easier for Mac owners to enjoy the latest Windows games on their computers, if the performance and potential bugs can be ironed out. In the meantime, the emulator is being compared to Valve’s Proton translation layer, which can allow the Linux-based Steam Deck to run Windows games.
Marovitz got the emulator running on a Mac by downloading the toolkit from Apple’s website, and then running it on the macOS Sonoma beta release, which appears to be a requirement. Others have been posting instructions on how you can get the emulator running over a Mac.