Playing PC games on a Mac just got a whole lot easier for people who didn't want to follow the somewhat cumbersome route of installing Apple's Game Porting Toolkit.
The Apple toolkit is designed to give developers a way to run their Windows games on a Mac via emulation in an attempt to see how well they might perform before putting the work into creating a proper Mac port. It's was big part of Apple's macOS 14 Sonoma showcase at WWDC 2023. But installation isn't straightforward. That's now changed thanks to an installer released on GitHub.
What's more, that installer now also makes it easier for gamers to take the Game Porting Toolkit for a spin themselves with the people behind it making a special ready-to-install version available.
Game on
The new installer is available for download for free and is meant to highlight the InstallAware Multi Platform automation system. The project's description notes that "this public repository showcases using the brand-new InstallAware Multi Platform to completely automate the installation of Apple's new Game Porting Toolkit, making the process as simple as point-and-click - even for non-developers!"
It goes further, too. Gamers who aren't developers can "download a ready-to-run app built from this sample [that's been] notarized by Apple." That download is available for free.
The GitHub project notes that the app will work on Intel and Apple silicon Macs and doesn't require an Apple developer account, nor will the Game Porting Toolkit be needed. Those who are developers can have the installer perform extra steps to use Apple's latest technology.
This of course isn't what the Game Porting Toolkit was designed for but it's increasingly becoming what people are actually using it for. We've already seen it used to make Diablo 4 run on a Mac, for example. The much-maligned Cyberpunk 2077 has also had the same treatment as well.
