{"id":9601,"date":"2009-11-06T13:44:11","date_gmt":"2009-11-06T12:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onsoftware.en.softonic.com\/how-to-use-steam-natively-on-a-mac\/"},"modified":"2025-07-02T02:19:00","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T09:19:00","slug":"how-to-use-steam-natively-on-a-mac","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms-articles.softonic.io\/en\/how-to-use-steam-natively-on-a-mac\/","title":{"rendered":"How to: Use Steam natively on a Mac"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SteamOne of the only major disadvantages of switching to Mac is that there are far fewer games available for OS X than Windows. For example, Steam<\/strong><\/a> is a hugely popular gaming application on Windows which allows users to download and update an array of great games from developers Valve – the makers of Half Life.<\/p>\n

Sadly it’s not available on Macs and usually, the only way to use it on a Mac is to install a virtual environment such as Parallels, VMware or boot in Windows using Bootcamp.<\/p>\n

However, the former is expensive and usually results in poor game performance and of course, both methods require purchasing Windows. It’s far better – and cheaper – to run games natively in OS X if possible. But how?<\/p>\n

That’s where CrossOver Games<\/a><\/strong> comes-in. CrossOver Games is based on what’s known as the “Wine<\/a>” platform which means it allows you to play Windows games on Mac (or Linux) computers without purchasing a copy of Windows. Best of all, it’s only around $40 which is a snip compared to buying a virtual environment or Windows. CrossOver Games comes from the same makers of CrossOver<\/strong><\/a> which allows you to run many Windows applications on your Mac in a virtual environment. The advantage of CrossOver Games however is that it squeezes every last drop out of the Wine platform in order to handle the demands of games.<\/p>\n

\"crossover1.png\"<\/p>\n

The app is designed for those with little technical knowledge and holds your hand throughout the setup process. You should be up and running within a matter of minutes. It won’t work for all games but the good news is that all the major ones – such as World of Warcraft, Half Life and the Steam platform, work perfectly and have been awarded “platinum” status for their stability on the Wine platform. You can find a full list of the specific games that work within Steam (most of which have been awarded at least silver status) here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Steam<\/p>\n

If you’ve been disappointed by gaming using a virtual environment or with Boot Camp and only miss Windows for gaming, CrossOver Games is a great solution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the only major disadvantages of switching to Mac is that there are far fewer games available for OS X than Windows. For example, Steam is a hugely popular gaming application on Windows which allows users to download and update an array of great games from developers Valve – the makers of Half Life. … Continue reading “How to: Use Steam natively on a Mac”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2009,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","wpcf-pageviews":0},"categories":[2441],"tags":[],"usertag":[],"vertical":[],"content-category":[],"class_list":["post-9601","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-how-to"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t