'This gives us a greater degree of freedom in looking at more demanding games, as we have greater confidence that they can be made to work well on a broad range of Macs including entry-level laptops, which represent a big chunk of the potential audience.' In comparison to the previous generation of Intel-based Macs, it offers a big step up in power, and for games that translates to better performance and enhanced graphical fidelity.' However, the current transition to Apple silicon opens up some exciting opportunities. 'The problem is that AAA games often push the limits on hardware, and we need to be confident that we can get a game to run well on a broad range of machines, often stretching back several years. We had to spend a large part of extended development cycles optimizing games to make sure they ran as well as possible on devices which were not intended or designed for gaming,' says Feral. 'Before, nearly all the most popular Apple computers, particularly their entry level laptops, used Intel Integrated Graphics. For this reason, Feral says that apart from their interest in a game, licensing negotiations, and the proven success of a given IP, the other big variable it has always had to consider when porting a triple-A title is how demanding a game is – and if a Mac can handle it. As many Mac gaming fans will know, Apple has historically hamstrung the Mac's graphics power by using integrated Intel graphics and designed-for-mobile GPUs in its laptops and all-in-one desktop machines. That doesn't mean Mac gamers haven't felt perpetually frustrated at Apple's seeming lack of interest in the Mac as a gaming-capable machine. There's an audience for good games that are well optimized for the platform.' What has remained constant is that there is a community of Mac users who want to play games on their computers.

'Apple's move from PPC to Intel, 32-bit to 64-bit and, most recently, Intel to Apple silicon – all of these required transitional periods and substantial work, but in each case they facilitated a situation in which better games could be brought to Mac. 'The changes have been cyclical, but bringing games to the Mac platform over that time has had its challenges,' admits Feral.

With Apple's transition from Intel processors to Apple silicon across the Mac lineup now almost complete, MacRumors asked the publisher and developer how it thinks the Mac gaming landscape has changed in the intervening years and where it could be headed. Feral Interactive has been porting games to the Mac since 1996, earning it a reputation for extremely faithful, high-quality PC and console conversions.

Best games on mac 2022