In 3 years, 50% of all computers capable of playing AAA games will be Macs

[Gudi]

Lol. A vapourware product with literally zero marketshare, on a platform with even worse porting issues than the Mac does.

Doesn’t matter. ARM chips are cheaper, faster and more efficient, which enables the design of smaller and lighter devices with smaller batteries, which need less rare earth materials and are cheaper to make and more profitable to sell. This train is unstoppable now that this technology is available outside of Apple. Windows will adapt or die.

And the problem isn't the CPU, it's the GPU. It's how the M series chips are designed around Metal, not DirectX, and how that just doesn't have the market penetration to be a first class citizen, nor are the porting translation layers sufficient to make seamless experiences.

Metal is not a problem, it’s a solution. Qualcomm needs its own graphica API too. The PC market has peaked in 2011. The pandemic boost was a one-time abnormally from the trend. The main computing platform today is phones. And PCs will only receive developer attention, when the same source code can be reused for phones and laptops.

 

[dr.zeissler]

As I said many times, only if apple starts a porting or a game devision things will make progress in the AAA-mac gaming market.

 

[Nugat Trailers]

Like offering assistance with developers to bring games over to Metal?
Or some sort of simple HUD that could let developers track CPU, GPU and RAM usage as well, see how their games perform on a Mac?

 

[diamond.g]

Like offering assistance with developers to bring games over to Metal?
Or some sort of simple HUD that could let developers track CPU, GPU and RAM usage as well, see how their games perform on a Mac?

At this point they have the tools, developers (publishers?) probably just need to see the cold hard cash to make it worth their while.

 

[Pressure]

2023 November Steam Survey puts Apple Silicon at 69.23% (+1.59%) market share on macOS.

SoC	Market share​	Change​
M1	29.13%​	+0.23%​
M2	14.34%​	-0.06%​
M1 Pro	12.04%​	-0.37%​
M1 Max	4.86%​	+0.23%​
M2 Pro	4.85%​	0​
M2 Max	2.23%​	+0.06%​
M3 Pro	0.82%​	+0.82%​
M3 Max	0.51%​	+0.51%​
M3	0.22%​	+0.22%​
M1 Ultra	0.19%​	-0.03%​
M2 Ultra	0.10%​	-0.02%​
Intel	30.71%​	-1.59%​

M3 series make their debut. We can see the effect of releasing only the base line M3 in the MacBook Pro (Mac15,3 = 0.14%) and iMac (Mac15,4 = 0,02% and Mac15,5 = 0.06%) line. Should pick up once the M3 MacBook Air and Mac mini arrives.

 

[Irishman]

As I said many times, only if apple starts a porting or a game devision things will make progress in the AAA-mac gaming market.

How many people make up a proper division?

 

[Nugat Trailers]

Between 6000 and 25000 for an army division.

I don't think Apple's using those division sizes though, for some strange reason.

 

[bousozoku]

2023 November Steam Survey puts Apple Silicon at 69.23% (+1.59%) market share on macOS.

View attachment 2320628

SoC	Market share​	Change​
M1	29.13%​	+0.23%​
M2	14.34%​	-0.06%​
M1 Pro	12.04%​	-0.37%​
M1 Max	4.86%​	+0.23%​
M2 Pro	4.85%​	0​
M2 Max	2.23%​	+0.06%​
M3 Pro	0.82%​	+0.82%​
M3 Max	0.51%​	+0.51%​
M3	0.22%​	+0.22%​
M1 Ultra	0.19%​	-0.03%​
M2 Ultra	0.10%​	-0.02%​
Intel	30.71%​	-1.59%​

M3 series make their debut. We can see the effect of releasing only the base line M3 in the MacBook Pro (Mac15,3 = 0.14%) and iMac (Mac15,4 = 0,02% and Mac15,5 = 0.06%) line. Should pick up once the M3 MacBook Air and Mac mini arrives.

Since Mac on Steam represents a little over 1% does it matter right now? Steam itself is an Intel executable. With Valve putting considerable money into Linux, will there ever be a time when they drop or make separate 32-bit games?

I'd love to see native M1 Mac Games, but it's rare. Apple doesn't seem to know how to explain to game developers how to make things work.

 

[Pressure]

Since Mac on Steam represents a little over 1% does it matter right now? Steam itself is an Intel executable. With Valve putting considerable money into Linux, will there ever be a time when they drop or make separate 32-bit games?

I'd love to see native M1 Mac Games, but it's rare. Apple doesn't seem to know how to explain to game developers how to make things work.

I'm not making an argument with the data posted from the Steam Hardware Survey but I do find the migration from x86-64 to Arm interesting. Unfortunately we don't have any data from Apple.

It's important to keep in mind that this data is also only collected from computers with Steam installed and actively used on a month to month basis.

 

[Nugat Trailers]

A small thing to note.

Valve seems to have added a note for Stray, reading:
Notice: This product is not compatible with macOS systems using Intel processors. Click here for more information.

The click here link takes you to an Apple support page, called:

Mac computers with Apple silicon​

Starting with certain models introduced in late 2020, Apple began the transition from Intel processors to Apple silicon in Mac computers.

 

[bousozoku]

I'm not making an argument with the data posted from the Steam Hardware Survey but I do find the migration from x86-64 to Arm interesting. Unfortunately we don't have any data from Apple.

It's important to keep in mind that this data is also only collected from computers with Steam installed and actively used on a month to month basis.

Right. They don't always collect mine because I don't spend as much time on the Mac playing a game or two.

The last hardware survey, it said that I had an Intel processor with a 1440x900 resolution, instead of my M1 MacBook Air. It was almost as though they used a historical record from my mid-2012 MacBook Pro.

 

[AHDuke99]

I feel like top games on the Mac are at their lowest level in a very long time. The one thing keeping me from upgrading to the Mx series Macs is I won't be able to occasionally play Starcraft 2 or Heroes of the Storm. It looks like Blizzard has given up bringing those games to Apple Silicon probably because sales/play is so low on the Mac that it doesn't make sense to dedicate resources to porting those over.

 

[Marsikus]

I feel like top games on the Mac are at their lowest level in a very long time. The one thing keeping me from upgrading to the Mx series Macs is I won't be able to occasionally play Starcraft 2 or Heroes of the Storm. It looks like Blizzard has given up bringing those games to Apple Silicon probably because sales/play is so low on the Mac that it doesn't make sense to dedicate resources to porting those over.

Isn't it playable via Rosetta 2 ?

StarCraft II on Apple Silicon Games

Game Compatibility and Game Performance

applesilicongames.com

 

[AHDuke99]

Isn't it playable via Rosetta 2 ?

StarCraft II on Apple Silicon Games

Game Compatibility and Game Performance

applesilicongames.com

I've heard mixed things. Some day you can play those games on lower settings and others are reporting major issues. Eventually, I'll make the switch and if I can no longer play them, so be it. It seems like Blizzard is moving away from the Mac for good now. D4 is not Mac compatible either.

 

[Irishman]

I've heard mixed things. Some day you can play those games on lower settings and others are reporting major issues. Eventually, I'll make the switch and if I can no longer play them, so be it. It seems like Blizzard is moving away from the Mac for good now. D4 is not Mac compatible either.

D4 will be, soon, cuz Whoopi’s on the case!

As for Rosetta 2 support for StarCraft 2: has hearing mixed things kept you from trying it out yourself??

 

[bogdanw]

Gizmodo - "Can Apple Finally Make Mac Gaming Stick?"
https://gizmodo.com/apple-macbook-iphone-gaming-xbox-playstation-1851109277
"Apple has tried to push gaming before, but it will need more than Resident Evil 4 to put Mac gaming on the map."

 

[Marsikus]

I've heard mixed things. Some day you can play those games on lower settings and others are reporting major issues. Eventually, I'll make the switch and if I can no longer play them, so be it. It seems like Blizzard is moving away from the Mac for good now. D4 is not Mac compatible either.

I have just installed StarCraft 2 from Battle.Net on my MacBook Pro (14-inch, 2021). It works great.

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

2023 November Steam Survey puts Apple Silicon at 69.23% (+1.59%) market share on macOS.

View attachment 2320628

SoC	Market share​	Change​
M1	29.13%​	+0.23%​
M2	14.34%​	-0.06%​
M1 Pro	12.04%​	-0.37%​
M1 Max	4.86%​	+0.23%​
M2 Pro	4.85%​	0​
M2 Max	2.23%​	+0.06%​
M3 Pro	0.82%​	+0.82%​
M3 Max	0.51%​	+0.51%​
M3	0.22%​	+0.22%​
M1 Ultra	0.19%​	-0.03%​
M2 Ultra	0.10%​	-0.02%​
Intel	30.71%​	-1.59%​

M3 series make their debut. We can see the effect of releasing only the base line M3 in the MacBook Pro (Mac15,3 = 0.14%) and iMac (Mac15,4 = 0,02% and Mac15,5 = 0.06%) line. Should pick up once the M3 MacBook Air and Mac mini arrives.

I can't wait until Intel era is finally behind us. Those machines were a joke for so long.

D4 will be, soon, cuz Whoopi’s on the case!

And I've been on the case for getting Persona 5 on macOS, and we can see how that's turned out for us lol

 

[AHDuke99]

D4 will be, soon, cuz Whoopi’s on the case!

As for Rosetta 2 support for StarCraft 2: has hearing mixed things kept you from trying it out yourself??

I don't own a Mx Mac so no. I'm still running the late 2019 16" Macbook Pro but am considering the 14" M3 Pro MBP as my next upgrade.

 

[bogdanw]

Ars Technica "First wave of AAA iPhone games sees a big new release—and a notable delay"
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2023...s-sees-a-big-new-release-and-a-notable-delay/
<Death Stranding—which was expected to launch this month—has been delayed to "a new release date in early 2024" because it "needs a little more time."
Resident Evil 4 is a free download, but unlocking the full experience will normally cost $60, which is an unusually high price for a mobile game but historically standard pricing for games of this level of production values on consoles and PCs.>

 

[Homy]

Ars Technica "First wave of AAA iPhone games sees a big new release—and a notable delay"
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2023...s-sees-a-big-new-release-and-a-notable-delay/
<Death Stranding—which was expected to launch this month—has been delayed to "a new release date in early 2024" because it "needs a little more time."
Resident Evil 4 is a free download, but unlocking the full experience will normally cost $60, which is an unusually high price for a mobile game but historically standard pricing for games of this level of production values on consoles and PCs.>

What’s the point of this post and that poorly written article?

- ”Death Stranding has been delayed”: Yes, so what? So it’s a bad thing to delay a game two months (now only one) for further optimization to deliver a solid product? Do you rather want a poor port now like the whole bug infested buffet of poorly optimized and disappointing PC releases this year?

- ”$60 is unusually high price for a mobile game”: Why there’s no mention of the universal purchase? Pay $60 and play on your Mac, iPhone and iPad.

- ”Capcom has an abysmal record of keeping iOS games playable and supported over time”: All iOS games by Capcom are playable and supported on the latest iOS, even the old ones from a decade ago. Haven’t played any of them myself but according to the info on App Store that’s the case. The only game not supported after iOS 14 is Ghost Trick which is about to be delisted as of March 25, 2024. You can also see by the version history that the games been updated many times. Apple requires also every year that developers use the latest Xcode to submit apps to App Store in order for the apps to be compatible with the lates iOS.

 

[senttoschool]

It's been 3 years since I created this thread. Today, the original ideas and foresight have been confirmed by Apple in an interview. When I first wrote down the post, I thought Apple's strategy was blindingly obvious. Yet, most posters here were more than skeptical.

My original ideas were quite simple. They boiled down to:

• Apple wants AAA games but had no way to doing so before
• Every Apple Silicon Mac is capable of AAA gaming from low to high settings. This was not the case during the Intel era.
• Eventually, it'd make too much financial sense for developers to make AAA games for the Apple ecosystem due to the volume of total Apple Silicon devices sold (iPads, Vision Pro, iPhone Pro, Macs, etc).

Apple is betting that expanding the library of games on the Mac isn’t a matter of if, but when.

Apple hopes that once there’s a large enough install base of Macs with Apple silicon (and iOS devices that share the same architecture), publishers would be foolish to ignore it (and leave money on the table).

“Apple silicon has changed all that,” Keppel tells Inverse. “Now, every Mac that ships with Apple silicon can play AAA games pretty fantastically. Apple silicon has been transformative of our mainstream systems that got tremendous boosts in graphics with M1, M2, and now with M3.”

Martin says Apple silicon started fresh with a unified hardware platform that not only makes it easier for developers to create Mac games for, but will allow for those games to run on other Apple devices.

“Gaming was fundamentally part of the Apple silicon design,” Doug Brooks, also on the Mac product marketing team, tells Inverse. “Before a chip even exists, gaming is fundamentally incorporated during those early planning stages and then throughout development. I think, big picture, when we design our chips, we really look at building balanced systems that provide great CPU, GPU, and memory performance. Of course, [games] need powerful GPUs, but they need all of those features, and our chips are designed to deliver on that goal. If you look at the chips that go in the latest consoles, they look a lot like that with integrated CPU, GPU, and memory.”

Inside Apple's Massive Push to Transform the Mac Into a Gaming Paradise

In an interview with Apple product marketing managers Leland Martin, Doug Brooks, and Gordon Keppel, we go deep on how Apple is transforming the Mac into a respectable AAA video games platform that can compete with PCs and consoles.

www.inverse.com

 

[diamond.g]

• Eventually, it'd make too much financial sense for developers to make AAA games for the Apple ecosystem due to the volume of total Apple Silicon devices sold (iPads, Vision Pro, iPhone Pro, Macs, etc)

guess we are waiting on this to come true.

 

[salamanderjuice]

It's been 3 years since I created this thread. Today, the original ideas and foresight have been confirmed by Apple in an interview. When I first wrote down the post, I thought Apple's strategy was blindingly obvious. Yet, most posters here were more than skeptical.

My original ideas were quite simple. They boiled down to:

• Apple wants AAA games but had no way to doing so before
• Every Apple Silicon Mac is capable of AAA gaming from low to high settings. This was not the case during the Intel era.
• Eventually, it'd make too much financial sense for developers to make AAA games for the Apple ecosystem due to the volume of total Apple Silicon devices sold (iPads, Vision Pro, iPhone Pro, Macs, etc).

Inside Apple's Massive Push to Transform the Mac Into a Gaming Paradise

In an interview with Apple product marketing managers Leland Martin, Doug Brooks, and Gordon Keppel, we go deep on how Apple is transforming the Mac into a respectable AAA video games platform that can compete with PCs and consoles.

www.inverse.com

So where's the proof that 50% of PCs capable of playing AAA titles are Macs?

 

[senttoschool]

So where's the proof that 50% of PCs capable of playing AAA titles are Macs?

You can read the original post and do the math.

Regardless, that’s not the point. The point is outlining the path for AAA games to make its way onto Apple devices, mostly Macs.