

Next, download and install Steam on your Windows computer, and make sure the games you want to play are installed, configured, and have been launched at least once. You want it to be plugged directly in rather than relying on wireless access.

Make sure your gaming desktop is attached to your network via an Ethernet cable. In-Home Streaming works by actually running the game on your Windows PC, then routing the video over the network to your Mac. Preferably a good one, but any recent computer will do. Here’s the bad news, upfront: you still need a Windows PC for this to work. It’s thanks to a newer technology from Valve known as In-Home Streaming. It’s also a way to play any game in your entire library, even if it’s Windows-only. If you’re a PC gamer, chances are you’ve bought more than a few Steam titles – and it’s likely some of those support the Mac at the same time Valve doesn’t charge extra for non-Windows versions of their games.īut for Mac gamers, Steam is more than just a way to find Mac-compatible games. The easiest way to get started with a few games for Mac is to use Steam. Valve pushed devs to port titles over to the Apple platform, and now there are hundred or even thousands of games running in the Mac version of Steam (of the 315 games in my Steam account, 176 of them are Mac compatible). The Best Way to Get Games for Mac? Steam.Ī few years ago, Valve sent waves through the Mac world when they announced that they were planning to port their Steam video game store / distribution channel / social network to OS X. World of Warcraft became a huge seller on the Mac. A few games were ported over, but never very many. That all began to change when Apple switched the processors found inside of Mac computers. Not only could Windows be installed, but major game studios brought some of their titles over. For the most part, it worked really well. It wasn’t uncommon for Mac owners to own a Windows-powered PC explicitly for gaming – you’d use your MacBook (or PowerBook!) for work and relaxation, then boot up your Windows PC when you wanted to sit down and shoot things.

Traditionally, Macs were not known for their gaming prowess. One of the first things a lot of people look for, once they get over the ‘newness’ of unboxing a new MacBook and switching on OS X for the first time, is how they can play their favorite games on Mac.
