Apple's AAA games FLOP: Future of Mac gaming in jeopardy

[@kekchanbiggestfan]

There are 2 problems with Mac gaming: 1. The App Store sucks ass 2. Apple’s new focus on “Mac gaming” is actually on Mac games in the App Store

[@vedantdesai1]

That's not remotely true. Two of the best running Mac games are No Man's Sky and Sims 4 - and both of those are on their own storefront (Steam for NMS and EA App for Sims 4). Both these storefronts are natively running on an ARM version for Apple Silicon and both the aforementioned games are natively running on Apple Silicon, ARM, and Metal. Mac gaming isn't limited to the App Store unlike iOS and iPad gaming which they are trying to push. However, the issue with Mac gaming is that developers aren't invested enough. Your point on the App Store stands true for iPad and iPhone gaming. Like NMS isn't available on iPad because of the App Store - same with Sims 4.

[@Jakef100f]

They need to partner with valve and release a rolling version of GPTK on steam

[@ProtectusCZ]

@@vedantdesai1 Sims 4 runs great on anything cause it's MOBILE GAME turned into full game like TS1, TS2, TS3

[@JimV.]

@@ProtectusCZ No it isn't, Sims 4 is a Sims Online sequel that failed in development called Project Olympus. because the always online on SimCity failed so much, they quit development on it and repackaged Project Olympus as an offline game, aka Sims 4.

[@daveh6356]

What about the App Store sucks?

[@NexXxus86]

releasing 3-4 AAA titles doesn't make them gaming devices. But I tried Resident Evil Village on my iPad and I'm impressed how well it runs.

[@HandM80]

So what’s your point then? Your iPad can’t be a gaming device?

[@AquaticMammalOnBicycle]

"impressed how well it runs" is a common but meaningless sentiment. It's like if 99% percent of comments about literature talked about the ink and paper quality.

[@MichaelGGarry]

@@AquaticMammalOnBicycle What a stupid comment.

[@NexXxus86]

@@HandM80 yes and no. I don't find it comfortable to game on without a controller unless its a touch based game. I know I can use an external controller, but in the other way, I find it more comfortable to have the entire device and controller in my hands, like a steam deck or a switch.

[@NexXxus86]

@@AquaticMammalOnBicycle I meant it in the way of "in terms of running on a device this thin and without active cooling"

[@belowsubparcontent]

They need to put ‘em on steam

[@cheese_crab]

Yup. I saw RE4 was available and wanted to try replaying it on mac to see how it compared to my PC. Opened Steam and then quickly found the Apple store exclusivity for the native metal API app and went "nope"

[@gaborlelkes]

Exactly!!

[@chidorirasenganz]

ehh no reason to. can just use GPTK/Crossover for that

[@flyingcheesecake3725]

@@cheese_crabexactly

[@jayryco]

its really so simple and they still don't understand. And get valve to support steam natively too.

[@nintendoever]

"Who is not seen is not remembered." Who looks for AAA games on App Store? What PC gamer looks for games outside of Steam?

[@FlorentChardevel]

Apple is pushing their own app store because of greed, instead of providing tools like GPT to Steam, the same way Proton works with Steam on Linux.

[@fenrirIO]

​@@FlorentChardevel Proton is developed by Valve/Steam, it is a different situation.

[@daveh6356]

Why would a PC gamer be looking for Mac software?

[@amirpourghoureiyan1637]

@@fenrirIO proton is an open source fork of the wine project, nothing is closed off unlike apple's ecosystem

[@Samhain__UK]

PlayStation users, Xbox users switch users.

[@Alvinladen]

How can people buy their games if Apple is only giving a very small storage space on their base models (256gb)? And, adding more storage is so overpriced.

[@_sparrowhawk]

Why would you be gaming on a base model anything?

[@nintendoever]

Apple just have to do what everyone else would do: 1: Set a good budget for mac gaming project (easy for Apple); 2: Hire a marketing team who knows about games. Do events on physical Apple Store, media...; 3: Build a talented team for exclusives in house games; 4. Throw off actual App Store and build a exclusive game app, with a mix of native games + proton-like games, (partner with Valve and Codewears); 5. Invest money on native ports based on top 20 most played steam games (plenty of money for that) Leave the rest to Apple-Proton; 6. Patience. It will require at least 10 years for the model to be stabilized. 7. Partner with Nintendo for a Legal emulator exclusive for Macs and iPads (not iPhones, of course, leave it to Switch/Switch 2). Nintendo sells switches and games on Apple Stores. All Nintendo games runs on Mac/iPad for better graphics quality/4k 60 Fps.

[@WhoKnowscs]

They don't even have to do most of this stuff. Just stop ripping off consumers.

[@Somebodythatiusedtoknoww]

@@WhoKnowscs wth does this have to do with games

[@perfectalpha]

I've thought Apple should have purchased Nintendo because they have no gaming aspirations without in house talent. You're right with a lot of what you're saying, but I believe cloud gaming will be a thing before Apple has their stuff together from a native hardware standpoint. GeForce Now (from Nvidia) on Mac is superior to console gaming today if you're close enough to a data center. I don't know why folks are trying to make Mac gaming hardware a thing when it's niche at best.

[@kalei91]

Point 7 is just delusional, Nintendo would NEVER do that.

[@TheKaosTux]

Good points!

[@IceBlueLugia]

Because it’s nonsensical to expect developers to port AAA games to the iPhone and nonsensical to expect mobile gamers to pay $60 for games. Apple needs to encourage devs to port their games to Steam. In an ideal world they’d also be on the iPad App Store but a lack of active cooling can really impact performance

[@jayeworley7461]

Damn I'm starting to get sick and tired of Apple not going fully into Steam and just forget about the App Store for games.

[@surlechihuahua]

In their App Store, they can get 30% of each sale. That’s probably what they want: a new source of revenue from software sold to existing customers, instead of selling Macs to gamers (which would be incredibly hard).

[@Dave102693]

I’m saying! Just go and team up with Valve.

[@blairo32]

That's great in theory. But valve has their own agenda here too. They want to push proton and more steam deck sales. ​@@Dave102693

[@jordanreed5866]

The fact that none of these games have cross save between iOS and macOS makes them useless to me. Apple NEEDS to force universal purchase and crosssave!

[@demetriouspough5484]

Apple CAN'T force universal purchase and cross save. The developers don't NEED Apple's platform, so they can do without putting their games on any part of the Apple ecosystem want.

[@eclipticpath]

@@demetriouspough5484 No but they can incentivize it by paying them more to include cross save too. Cross save would be the one thing Apple can separate themselves from the competition.

[@denisruskin348]

Just focus on Mac gaming. On iPhones the idea of playing RE4R on a 5,8” screen with touch control or Gamepad is just dumb. There’s a reason Fruit Ninja or Angry Birds were so popular. People on phones want a 5 min experience to pass the time, while they’re waiting, etc. iPads do make more sense though, but people upgrade those MUCH less often so unless you already have like an M2 one or thinking of upgrading, you’re not gonna get these super demanding games.

[@cheese_crab]

they're probably trying to get in on that sweet Nintendo handheld revenue, but I'm confused about why they chose these huge games instead of things more appropriate like Celeste, Ori, Stray, Dredge, Hades, Cup Head, Dead Cells, or older stuff like Fallout New Vegas/4 which it could presumable run quite well

[@chidorirasenganz]

Hades is already on iOS

[@chidorirasenganz]

Plus theres already tons of indie games on the iOS app store

[@KingVulpes]

​@@cheese_crabProbably make more sense to just release a Apple handheld

[@CleanDesign_]

On a 6.7 inch screen with a controller attachment , you basically have an OLED Switch with a better screen and APU. Apple needs to make a controller attachment themselves though, because some of the offerings out there are low quality, or some people don't realize they exist. It's true people don't want to play console games on a touch screen, but that doesn't have to be the case.

[@spda242]

I want to buy/play the RE games and I also would like to try Death Stranding 1) Put the games on steam 2) Let me choose what drive to install game on or move it and create a link (ln -s) 3) 24h download of RE4 was just silly, this told me Apple isn’t serious with game distribution 4) MacOS need to support current gen Xbox controller, they only support an older no longer available version (Steam support current gen controller) 5) Put the games on Steam 6) How about newer games? How about porting more Indiegames, alot of them are better than AAA failures anyway I am completely uninterested in iPhone/iPad ports I think porting long lived multiplayer games would be interesting for a lot of people but also a huge investment for game developers since they need to do simultaneous releases if they want cross platform gameplay.

[@marcsheep]

I’ve been listening to this excuse since 2020: “But developers just need to port their games to Apple Silicon”. So far, we went from 1 to 10ish AAA games.

[@chidorirasenganz]

ehh more like 20-30 current AAA games

[@tonyburzio4107]

Microsoft will not let their monopoly go so easily, Apple needs to hit hard and all at once.

[@marcsheep]

@@chidorirasenganz this is like 5-6 AAA games per year. Nintendo launches this in a week.

[@chidorirasenganz]

@@marcsheep there’s more to gaming than just “AAA” stuff tons of indie games have native mac versions and most games run through Crossover

[@justdude404]

@@marcsheepААА games from Nintendo? 😂 AAA prices - yes, but nothing else

[@HockeyPlayer323]

It's really not worth in on iPhone. It's okay on Macs and iPads, but need to work with Steam to build people's library

[@tonyburzio4107]

* An iPhone without an external monitor.

[@BrentLeVasseur]

The future or Mac gaming is Windows gaming on the Mac. That’s why this channel is so important.

[@marcsheep]

Yep! Apple should focus on a platform-agnostic solution, like Steam Proton. Hoping that developers will port games for Mac has not been working so far.

[@sn-xc7rv]

In that case I'd rather just get a cheap gaming laptop and play everything flawlessly rather than buy an expensive Mac and have it run at 30fps on 1080p low

[@Dave102693]

Yup gaming on Windows on Arm

[@st33ldi9ital]

Nobody wants to use Apple's app store. It's garbage. People want Steam. Apple doesn't profit from that. Why you think they launced M4 on Ipad? App Store lock in. Their whole strategy revolves around ecosystem lockin. Which is why they are fighting tooth and nail against the EU. If Apple wants gaming they gonna have to team up with Nintendo or something lol. Supporting EGPU would be cool but once again run into compatibility. No point in having the power if it's not compatible with what you want to run. Maybe they should invest in getting proton on Mac how Steam did with Linux. They also need to focus on the App Store. They really need a game hub for it or improve Arcade or something. Have sales. Attractive offers. Modding. Community. But Apple has no gig worth touting when it comes to gaming. PC has all the support... Supports all gpu interfaces, OpenGL, DirectX, Vulkan... has Steam, Epic, all the stores, all the sales. Xbox has gamepass. PS has all their goodness. Nintendo has exclusives. Apple has nothing going for it when it comes to gaming... So they have to change that. But really, I think they SOL. Too little too late. There's nothing Apple can do for gaming that can't be done on another platform better, easier, cheaper, and with more potential revenue. So, they can either pay up to play nice and support compatibility. Pay up for exclusive games and content, content that gamers actually want. Or team up with another platform. Like, if Apple Arcade had actual great lineup of games and could play on any Apple device with one subscription I'd totally go for that... that would be a gig worth touting. And yea, you can't be late to the party. You can't release a game year later, after it's already played out, and charging full price for it. That isn't gonna work... One of the major reasons I bought my M1 to begin with was it was advertised at the time to be able to run IOS apps on Mac.. the universal app. Then, they changed their mind about that and I have been sour ever since. So yes, they do need to enable IOS apps on Mac.

[@DaveFlash]

the last bit is the developers like netflix and so on who've opted-out their app on mac silicon, granted it was apple who actually made it possible for them to do so.

[@brandonwinston]

If they gave free steam key for an App Store purchase then Apple would profit and people could grow their steam library. Would have to work that out with the devs though

[@Zoolookuk]

The most obvious explanation is the price/performance ratio with Apple devices, and the fact that almost no-one buys an Apple device for the purpose of gaming, so the addressable market is small. If Apple really wants to get serious about gaming, they need to reintroduce something like the iPod Touch (so everything except the phone and give it a chip capable of playing these games) an Apple TV with something close to an M3 Pro/Max performance capable of playing any iPad/Mac game on the big screen, and stop selling their base Macs for over $1000 with 8GB of RAM and SSD's so small they were laughed at in 2012, let alone in 2024.

[@diverman1023]

The issue isn't so much a hardware or price one. The M1 MacBook Air 8gb still packs enough horsepower to run many very popular games extremely well like World of Warcraft and League of Legends. There are a ton of people (college students for example) who would say that machine for $899 is a great deal and runs MacOS buttery smooth. The people to be affected by a gaming push are specifically those prospective students who think "I love MacOS to work but I'm unsure I'll be able to do light/moderate gaming here and there in my dorm". It's more of a distribution issue at this stage. People don't want to use the Mac app store when they have a steam library, and they want developers to be able to port games to Arm without a hassle

[@thomk3282]

If the purchases aren’t universal, meaning it can’t be played on Mac, iPhone and iPad, that’s a big fat no for me.

[@sirBadd]

They should stop focusing on these AAA games and make a mega deal with Nintendo to add many of their classics to Apple Arcade

[@brianroberts6554]

With each video, you’re sounding more and more PCMR. I’m thinking seriously about just unsubscribing, because life is too short to waste it on something that doesn’t inspire me or bring me joy.

[@MB-nm8tt]

Those numbers can’t be right. 7000 copies sold for RE:Village? I can’t possibly be part of an exclusive club. If I bought RE:Village that means RE:Village sold an order of magnitude more than 7000.

[@bruceleggett568]

How many came out when PC did? People dont wait.

[@MastermindAtWork]

Apple could have avoid some of these issues if they had native Vulkan support in their OS years ago. Windows has OpenGL and Vulkan as an open fallback if devs were not using DirectX. Same with Linux. Forcing devs to only support Metal is lot of dev time and looking at Valve delisting a lot of Mac ports of their games, I can see why. If MacOS had a Vulkan fallback for applications, it would be easier for devs to port their game's rendering and, in addition, would make compatibility layers to run OpenGL games that ran on older macs and Windows software similar to Proton.

[@ShanerTheGrey]

A few issues. On iPad and iPhone we need active cooling macOS sequoia will fix the double storage issue. We also need a better Game Center app similar to steam.

[@chidorirasenganz]

nah active cooling is unnecessary

[@crestofhonor2349]

Active cooling isn’t necessary. Apple needs to do better with their passive cooling. iPads also cool themselves fine

[@nuc]

I think this still shows some sort of promise. Mac’s ecosystem doesn’t cater to gamers at all. I’d venture to say that only a VERY small percentage of Mac users would even consider playing games on their Mac. I don’t think much will change until Apple gets some sort of exclusive deal, or their own AAA studio AFTER really refining the toolkits AND trying to change the Mac culture to include gamers as well. Also put the damn games on STEAM.

[@langamlalazi6803]

Absolutely agree with you! Games like Street Fighter 6, MK 11 etc and possibly Tekken would shine on the iOS ecosystem! Imagine an iPhone 15/16 playing SF6 wow! I also can’t understand the decision not to make Mirage for MacOS! It’s insane! My MB Pro with M2 Max would run that game easily over 60fps as it has the horsepower to overcome poor programming and optimisation from Ubisoft! I actually enjoyed playing RE4 on my MB Pro and playing RE7 now, it’s glorious on that display!

[@karmangamerz-english894]

I think apple should follow some steps like for upcoming GTA 6 they should talk with rockstar to release it on mac on the same day as of consoles and also much earlier then PC's, this will attract many PC gamers to mac

[@nathsabari97]

. Pc gamers dont even use the epic game store on their pc if a game is exclusive and wait for steam release. If anything they would go buy a ps5 to play gta6 but never a mac.

[@kalei91]

No, it will not attract PC gamers to mac. PC gamers are infamous for being able to wait years for games, take all PS4/5 exclusives for instance, PS didn't attract PC gamers, they just waited until the games were ported to PC and played them then.

[@DaveFlash]

apple should've put all these games in Apple Arcade as exclusive, which would not only make the games more affordable to play to users, but also makes Arcade more appealing to subscribe to. and then on steam too for purchase.

[@antonlovestea]

The issue is not in that noone want to play them. I do not want to pay for a game, because: 1. I want to play the game on other platforms at least as possibility. 2. I want regional prices because I would not pay for a game 60$ when the game in my region for Windows costs 15$. I will NOT. 3. App Store is a piece of crap, at least of now. As we know new updates MIGHT improve it. 4. Games released on the App Store are not even available on all Apple platforms. It's pathetic.

[@xawkay]

Apple need to make AppleTV with M4 (maybe even PRO version) and bring all game to the living room with gamepad this will give us another already done console on the market (and Mac/iPad/iPhone will greatly benefits from this move too)

[@GatoPaint]

personally I think the fact that they managed to forcerun a console game on a PHONE its a pretty outstanding deal, I'd say like with all Apple does, they're ahead of the industry and now sadly they will eat the "negative" press while phones for the next years will compete and improve on this, we're so close to have a console with console quality and "pocket friendly like a phone"

[@Wampa842]

Your argument is invalidated by the fact that Doom 2016 and Warframe can both run on the Nintendo Switch, which is weaker by processing power than my five-year-old budget phone. Apple hardware's build quality is commendable, but they've lost the lead they used to have in terms of processing power and are drip-feeding improvements to their cult. If you want to praise someone, praise the developers of the games and the compatibility tools.

[@slalomie]

Only way I see Apple competing in AAA gaming is by pivoting Apple Arcade to a cloud gaming service. I only bought RE4 for my M1 Pro bc I don’t have a console, gaming PC and zero Steam library. Most gamers do. No surprise RE4 doesn’t run well on my 15 Pro.

[@_sparrowhawk]

I don’t think cloud gaming is that popular anywhere.

[@SS-hb1xm]

focus on timeless games theyre usually light multiplayer games that iphones can run perfectly. and that will cause in app purchases that will help benifit their market and gain popularity

[@GeoHdReal]

Another factor is how much storage these games take when most people have base spec macs and iphones at 256 and 128 gigabytes

[@WhoKnowscs]

Gamers: Don't want to primarily game on their phones. Yes, they'll play games on them but a real gamer isn't getting pumped up to play 3-4 hours(or more) of a AAA game on a 4 inch screen with touch controls. Don't want to rebuy games they already own especially if they don't agree with the DRM of Apple's store. Or is that just me who grew out of paying full price for the mac ports of games from Aspyr and Macsoft back 20-25 years ago? I got Death Stranding for free from the Epic Game Store on PC. It's not the director's cut version but I'd happily buy the upgrade at some point if I could actually get the mac version of the game in addition to the pc version. You can forget about me paying 40(much less 20) dollars on Apple's store for it though. Do not want to continue to feel ripped off and cheated. I have a ton of mac games from using macs for 40 years or so, but even recently you can buy a ton of games on Steam. GOG, Epic Game Store, etc. and get mac versions for nothing extra. The fact that Whiskey and Wine are heavily used to play the the latest PC variants of games clearly shows a demand for games but Apple is delusional if they think GPTK is for developers to get a handful of games on their app store.

[@WhoKnowscs]

And this doesn't count for the games I'm most interested in just aren't they ones they are offering. I want to play games like Counter-Strike 2, Team Fortress 2(funny how they upgraded in to 64-bit which would mean it'd work in Rosetta 2 only to have Valve drop the mac version. Fortnite(PC version chokes because of anti-cheat, Mac version hasn't been updated in 5 years or so because Epic and Apple got into a legal pissing match over who should be making money from an IPhone version, but you can stream it or use an android emulator so there's that.) I'm mostly interested in AAA games in the 5 - 10 year old range but again I have zero desire to rebuy games I already own especially from the App Store.

[@jrecio325]

I blame no external storage option on app store. No one has space

[@c.daubz.5386]

Ya can’t compare the game numbers when these games were old already on other devices so not like it is first time release of AAA games, another thing apple is just now finally starting in AAA games on their newest devices which haven’t been out a year yet, lets give them 3-5yrs of pushing AAA gaming and see where Apple is then” not saying they shouldn’t have done better already but that they are just now showing interest to the public for console style gaming

[@zembagyatso6510]

They only need to stop making appstore games and focus on steam

[@Xanduur]

Don’t get me started about apples, stupidity with gaming on the Apple TV. So many great games from the iPhone and iPad could work on the Apple TV, but their storage limitations from years ago, kept developers away. I don’t expect much from Apple and these AAA titles

[@TimWong49152]

Really easy problem to fix. Call Take-Two and offer to pay them $$$ to bring Rockstar titles to the Mac (not iPhone, not iPad).

[@skykal]

The App Store game prices are outrageous with no regional pricing and very rare sale periods, if I can get the same game from Steam for less than 1/4th the cost I’d be pretty stupid to even consider the App Store.

[@tamalchakraborty5346]

I dont see mac games taking off anytime soon. Most of the buyers go for the base model. However, it is really attractive, that , if you buy a game on apple, you can play it on iPhone , iPad and tvOS. Oh yeah, probably the visionOS if it becomes popular.

[@mipmapp5207]

This would be my feedback to Apple - not as an armchair CEO but as a general schmuck who games occasionally. I have no interest in what is being brought into gaming. Resident Evil, Death Stranding, Lies of P all look impressive but not something I’m gonna sit down with for extended periods. But I do (and would) with games like Valheim, Palworld, Deep Rock Galactic and other AA or indie titles that are multiplayer that I can play with my kids or games that can be played in short gaming sessions. I use my Mac for work mostly so having my downtime be something that fits family gaming would be of interest to me. That’s the niche I fall into and I’m not sure how many would be the same as me. I’ll be buying Palworld when the Mac version is available so I can join friends and family. I currently play Vaheim with my sons. These are games you can easily jump into and out of without dedicating huge sessions to, and I can move my MacBook from the office to the living room to join. The Mac is light and being able move to another room to join a game that my kids are playing would play to that strength. For this reason RE7 and all these intense single player games don’t interest me.

[@tablettablete186]

Rock and Stone!!!

[@mipmapp5207]

@@tablettablete186 Rock. And. Stone! Deep Rock works really well on Whisky on my M1 Pro thankfully.

[@BarelyAverageDude]

If it's not on Steam it's going up in smoke

[@banquesseuils]

Seriously who wants to play these AAA on such small screen like the iPhone. Nice on the tech side but then I’d rather play death stranding on a big screen and really enjoy the landscape

[@MacinMindSoftware]

I don't play games on an iPhone. If I play games on an iPad it's match 3, puzzles, cards, etc and I don't play that much. On the Mac I'll play all kinds of games but I'm not inclined to App Store prices or experience. But I'll pay for GOG or Steam sale games even if I can only play using Crossover.

[@krystiano.610]

As a mainly PC gamer, I don't care about any game released on the app store - I have a large steam library and I don't want to pay twice to play on both my MacBook and PC - Apple should just accept the fact that its current exclusive approach will only lead to developers unwillingness to port their games to MacOS (cuz nobody buys games on the app store). As for iPhone gaming, when possible I prefer streaming from my own PC rather than playing the native versions (e.g. Genshin Impact) - less device heat with better quality and framerate

[@muhammadjonmadaminov3363]

just support Mac gaming mainly, and port some native games into iPad, gaming on iPhone not so great idea, even if I had iPhone 15 pro I would not buy them. Porting some fps games into Mac will be great idea, like CS2 maybe COD(if Black ops 6 would release on Mac, that would be great). And adding these games on Arcade. I don't see any interesting games on Arcade and reason to pay for it.

[@crestofhonor2349]

I’m not surprised sales are super high. Not only are all of these limited to either high end iPads or just the iPhone 15 Pro, it also is on Mac App Store, further emphasizing the fact that people don’t buy games on Mac. I personally don’t own a device that can play any of these games on iOS and I don’t own a recent Mac, just a modern gaming laptop. I do think the sales are somewhat in line with what I expect because people do not game on Mac and the games on mobile tend to be F2P crap or super casual games Also the screen size isn’t even an issue. The Steam Deck, Switch, and ROG Ally wouldn’t be popular if people didn’t mind playing big AAA games on a small screen. The issue is just the audience. The gaming audience on mobile is hyper casual while those who buy handheld gaming devices tend to be less casual gamers. Touch controls to suck and I highly advise against them for these games. A controller is basically required for the best experience or possibly even mouse and keyboard for iPad too

[@gianlucab2261]

A. should drop Metal and adopt industry standard API: openGL and Vulkan. No way a developer is going to invest in a proprietary tech assuring so low revenues.

[@tonyburzio4107]

They can't, openGL and Vulkan both have a flaw for the way Apple hardware works.

[@tablettablete186]

​@@tonyburzio4107Can you explain? Because Asahi Linux pretty much contradicts your statement

[@sn-xc7rv]

Mobile game devs have invested massive amounts on metal lol 😂

[@edgarcmtz]

I think they need to focus on day one releases. The only game of interest to me has been stray so far, and I already bought it on release for PS5. Most fans of these games will have already bought it on another platform if it comes out months after the release

[@MrSamPhoenix]

Here’s the thing, the games have to be discounted to make it a no-brainier for most folks. And they really need to push games on their AppleTV platform. There aren’t enough games on there. Lastly, I’d love to play ports of classic games like the Bioshock series, Street Fighter Alpha series, Street Fighter 3: Online Edition, Mortal Kombat 1-2-3-Ultimate, classic Rayman, all on my Apple hardware. They should hire real gamers who know these things.

[@hyposlasher]

I will explain to you why it's failing. Because for years greedy Apple didn't give regular iPhones decent amount of memory, which would be enough for AAA gaming even on regular iPhone 15 and 14. If they did, a much more broader audience would be able to buy these games. Thank you Apple. You shot yours in the foot

[@allysonflb]

The thing is, they need to partner with Steam, which is the gaming environment on PC. The App Store sucks, and paying again for a game we already bought on another platform (PC) is not cool. I bought Death Stranding again on the App Store to play on my Mac even though I already have it on Steam; this should not happen. I did it because I really like the game. I didn't do the same for other games, and a lot of people are doing that, which explains the low sales. Another thing, Apple should implement the GPTK on Steam like Proton works on Linux. If we have this natively and easily (without needing to mess with Wine and Crossover), Mac gaming would blow up.

[@kienhwengtai8113]

Most of the gamers have PS4/5, XBOX, or Windows machines. The gaming audience is not a generally a Mac owning one. Just to add Linux can play Windows games so the Linux gamers are the same users with Intel/AMD CPUs. PS - there's a steam sale on at the moment so everyone is probably not buying games on App Store.

[@sxifster2144]

Andrew great point, honestly just need the games that have been on iOS which would run a lot better if they came to the Mac then that would start the interest in games on Mac which would lead to exclusives coming such as the paid games. Same idea the iOS App Store had and it's the reason why it's the biggest in the world. Start with free AAA games that'll will help fund in-game purchases if there are any (most likely) then the exclusives come and larger audiences will buy when released.

[@priffess]

Honesty.. If i was Apple i would put almost all my resources on the Game porting toolkit. I would updated it frequently and constantly try to make more games playable. I would also work with the teams at Crossover and Whiskey to get even more Games playable. I would do this to start making gaming on a mac a normal thing. To show people that it’s possible and that it makes sense. And I would eventually also be able to show developers that there is a market of Mac gamers.

[@mariussm7797]

The problem is the price.

[@VisionProGamingGuy]

the article is most about iOS. the main issue is the games play like a$$ on iPhone. the port is low quality low effort, they barely run, low frame rate, and crash often. and then you add on top the games were designed to be played on PC/Console…such as the UI being too small on iPhone, the virtual controllers sucking, the gameplay style requiring too much attention for too long. High End mobile games like ZZZ by mihoyo are getting 40million in preregistration. We're more likely to see the high end mobile developers make more astounding games than the old console developers being able to make good games for mobile ….. AC Mirage crashed within minutes for me on iPhone 15pm . as an app developer I know the revenue estimates we've seen have been 10x off in either direction before for my own games and my friends.

[@YISTECH]

Apples problems can be solved easily. Stop distributing the mac versions on the appstore. Nobody wants to use the appstore to manage these large games.

[@MichaelGGarry]

"All Apple need to do is give away all the profits to a competitor (Steam)" - are you all insane? Do you make the same claims to Sony and Nintendo too?

[@thomk3282]

Apple needs to sell an official backbone controller and market it well.

[@digz6666]

I agree with you on your suggestion which Apple should bring multiplayer games to IOS. I think they should bring Apex Legends and Call of Duty to Mac OS too.

[@mumblesspeedtalker5526]

No one wants to pay a high price for games on top of the price of the phone. You might as well get a nintendo switch ,steam deck and othe other pc handhelds like rog alley and lenovo legion go.

[@Dragon-dl7ep]

I have most these games on steam already. I think they should focus on having new games on release & support for free to play multiplayer games.

[@guesswhat911]

The head of Apple's gaming business may not understand games and what players need at all. We see Apple bringing old games to the Mac, on the other hand, many mac gamers have to use PlayCover to play iOS games like Genshin Impact. What can I say?

[@blendernoob64]

Apple could learn a lot from the Linux gamers given their Unix heritage. Here’s what I would do 1. Make game porting toolkit not a porting toolkit, but Apple Proton, an all purpose wine implementation for playing almost any windows game under the sun from modern titles like Cyberpunk to older titles like FEAR or Unreal. Gptk seems to be better for modern titles not old titles that people also enjoy 2. Support open standards like open gl and vulkan. It’s befuddling that Apple has a hate boner for Vulkan and dropped support for open gl. The lacking open gl support makes games like Minecraft much less enjoyable on my Mac, and titles like Wolfenstein the New Order or Doom 2016 unplayable on any compatibility layer on Mac. 3. Promote Steam more and stop releasing games on their App Store. No pc gamer likes online storefronts like the Windows Store and the Mac App Store is not much better. Steam is much better and has a far bigger library of games. Maybe work with Valve to allow steam play compatibility to run GPTK or Wine for a more seamless experience I love my MacBook but I use it for creative work and for school, not so much for games unless I want to prove that Mac’s are capable of playing games, but Apple needs to do more to make us satisfied.

[@AlexanderLindo]

With no disrespect to the game developers as they make great titles but as a non-gamer, many of these titles have not grabbed me. Put up titles like Oceanhorn 2, Sonic DreamTeam (bright and sunny daylight scenes, great stress relievers) both of which are on Apple Arcade and make them available for sale on the App Store and I am almost certain sales figures would increase to a far greater level than they are at right now. Those games also run flawlessly on all Apple Silicon based devices. Most non-gamers and creative professionals are not interested in the dark demonic themed gruesome bloody gory games with limbs being chopped off and blood splattering everywhere. When AAA games were made available on Apple Silicon based Macs I purchased Grid Legends, and that is a fantastic game for everyone.

[@Nsfwstar]

The only way of releasing triple aaa games on mobile is via very low price or via subscription, that's why i don't know why apple didn't created an extra apple arcade tier that included these games (and of course allow the games to be purchase outside the subscription) Anyway Netflix gaming is not perfect but more people played sonic mania plus Netflix edition than people that played death stranding on iPhone 15 pro xdd

[@CleanDesign_]

Something Apple probably would never do (seems unlikely for Valve in the current era too), but this would be fixed by a partnership with Steam. We need some kind of cross buy system. As it is right now, if a game is on Steam and The App Store, I buy on Steam, because Steam is a better gaming platform (all the community features and all the best games in one place) and I know I have a lot of hardware options, and I have more friends to play with. Apple does have the advantage though of the Apple hardware ecosystem for those that are fully in it. Buying a game once and playing it on my Apple TV, iPad, Phone, and Mac is awesome. The only problem is Apple doesn't force devs to publish on all devices. If I have a cool game on my phone, that doesn't mean I can plop down on my couch with a controller and enjoy it on the big screen, that doesn't mean while I am at my desk I can enjoy it on my 4k 120 monitor. Purchases are really a mess as you have to research every game to see what devices it is on. Some devs are selling the same game twice depending on which Apple hardware you want to use. Shout out to Overhaul games though, who even though they already had a $20 Mac version of the original Baldur's Gate games, they still went ahead and enabled the $10 iPad versions on Mac when Apple introduced that feature. And SoMoGa, who released the classic JRPG, Lunar on every Apple device, so I can in fact play on my TV, monitor, iPad, and Phone.

[@dtronic]

I don't want to buy a game twice! It's that simple. If the games were available on Steam I could play on my PC then on my MacBook on the road. Simple.

[@javiazar]

Apple just needs to start buying gaming studios

[@FlorentChardevel]

I don't think that's a good idea for them, unless they want to launch a console or something. They need to get a deal with Steam to implement GPT like Proton Works with Steam on Linux.

[@pooriakhosravi9415]

the controls on the iphone and ipad are pretty bad the hole point of plying a game on iphone is to play it on the go but resident evil touch controls are terrible.

[@farzadjahanfard]

90 percent of gamers buy games on sale thats why ps store and steam are successful. Apple wont drop a penny thats the first reason they will flop.

[@DrifterXB]

I don’t understand why they won’t go with something that 100% is going to work like call of duty, apex or valorant smh people love their online shooting games. Also, online games make a lot more sense as someone would buys the game would want someone they know to play with so now another person is going to get the game. I need to be dev

[@brandonspiterig]

Instead of port All Resident Evil games capcom should bring Monster hunter series

[@caucasia_lucas]

Something also they should do , take out the hardware limitation to compile a game for mac … or at least provide it for free for dev, if i would be a dev who knows that i have smal market even if i wanna invest in making the game i will leave it if i need to invest in hardware like console

I'm targeted audience and I have a choice. I can play Death Stranding on 70 inch TV via PS5 for free (ps plus subscription) or pay 50$ and play it on my macbook pro with a touchpad... Most Mac users have consoles for gaming so Apple needs to figure out how to play those games on mobile devices better so it would be similar to Nintendo Switch or SteamDeck. For Mac's they need to get strategic games like CitySkyline 2, FrostPunk 2 or FPS like COD or Battlefield. Typical console games would not attract wider audience.

[@BlizardMedia]

it's because people want Online games, not exactly AAA single player like we keep being given.. Hype comes from e-friends who can play online games together, whether it's PvE co-op or PvP.. Plus Online Games usually do not require as much as Graphics as Single Player, so this would be a better option for Mac Hardware.. It is just laziness from the Devs though, why we don't get online games, because like we saw with Arma 3, still more Steam than Apple store but the updates are different versions to the Windows servers I think.. Whether it possible to access same time or not I cannot remember now but the devs refuse to make a update for 2 Operating Systems, So unless they go the extra mile, which they won't, they won't get the sales they desire. All I can say is games like Rust are doing Very Well, being a Mac and Windows game, if other titles want to match this gameplay user stat', again.. Devs need to go the extra mile but they will not!

[@infernal-toad]

Apple should also keep in mind people don’t only want Modern games on their devices. Porting more games from the PS2-PS4 era would be the best way to actract more people as those older games mostly take less storage and easier to run even on the last intel macs or more older iphones and ipads. Oh and for Apple’s devices, as 8GB RAM becomes the minimum for future iphones (that are mostly cheaper than entry level macs) 16GB RAM and 512GB Storage really deserves to be the bare minimum given the fact that the cheapest macs are already costs near the 1000 bucks. If Apple wants to keep up with Microsoft, then they better should try their best.

[@EverydayMacofficial]

Questionable article with questionable numbers! There are two sources used in the article but we only see the worst one in the video. The other source is Appmagic with much higher numbers. There is too much difference between the numbers to have statistical significance. So games like Resident Evil 4 and Village with 710,000-817,000 downloads are flops and had only 11,570-26,266 buyers? AC Mirage had 279,000 downloads in less than two weeks and it’s a flop and had 4,420 buyers? They compare that to 1.9 million downloads for AC Rebellion, a free mobile game that could be played on ordinary iPhones like 4-6. Of course a $50 game that can only be played on top iPhone models and iPads has fewer downloads. Give it 6 months or so like RE games before making conclusions. Is an expensive sports car a flop because only few buy it at high price? Who knows Ubisoft sales goal with such a title and strategy? Why does the writer of the article believes Mirage must sell 1.9 million copies in just two weeks to be successful? Until somebody who actually has worked on these projects at/with Capcom, Kojima Productions, Ubisoft or Apple provides facts or insights you should take such speculations with a large grain of salt. Capcom said in a press release that RE Village’s release on new devices like iPhone has increased sales. The article says ”those ports have bombed” but it also says ”Apple is likely paying developers like Ubisoft and Capcom to port these games to iPhone knowing they are doomed to fail.” So if Apple is paying what difference does it really make if the sales bomb or not? Apple wants the games and pays for them for different reasons. Microsoft still loses up to $200 on every sold Xbox after 23 years apparently so Apple has still a few years left to test the waters. Epic’s loss for its game store will reach $965 million by 2027. Everybody says Apple has the money and should pay so here you are. If that’s the case the devs haven’t lost anything. On the contrary they make some revenue too for free. In the end does it even matter? Even if only one person has bought the games Apple seems to be supposedly willing to pay for more games every year. People say they rather have many buggy PC games than fewer Mac games. Then I too rather have more games sponsored by Apple than none. Isn’t that the same thing all the experts on Apple’s gaming strategy complain about all the time? That Apple should buy and pay for this and that? Besides they used sale prices in their estimate. The normal prices are higher which means even fewer buyers but higher download rate per buyer which makes less sense. Why would each buyer download a game 60-100 times? Is it a matter of huge families with huge number of apple devices using family sharing and universal purchase? Doesn’t make sense.

[@KingVulpes]

Maybe if they put them on Steam so I wouldn't have to buy my games twice

[@derrekb4501]

Cook succeeded to keep Apple up as one of the biggest and most profitable company since Steve's death, but he failed miserably in guiding Apple to next level innovation, couldn't even make an iphone and watch combo charger, couldn't make Apple Car, couldn't improve Siri, could have acquired Tesla for nothing, Cook needs to step aside, imagine the power of Elon as CEO of Apple and bring in Tesla tech from power wall to cars, to AI. It would be the biggest company in history. But politics and egos get in the way.

[@ShendySubroto]

They're too much Resident Evil which are horror games, and I personally not keen to play horrors eventhough they are very very interesting. I'm just an effin coward, man. And yeah they should put all their Mac ports on Steam OR make a new game store app exclusive for Apple to accomodate all the Steam features (sales, updates, etc)

[@drzeissler]

these selling numbers are far to low to be true.

[@stye_]

I am a big fan of FPS games, and so far, there is not a single modern shooter available for the Mac. No COD, no Battlefield, no Fortnite (still no indication if it’s coming back to Mac), no Halo, etc. Apple should focus more on multiplayer games, which bring in a lot more players.

[@playerEDonline]

It's not correct to compare like this. Release a new game on all platforms at the same time - it will be visible there. And so - if you're a gamer and have already completed the game - what's the point of buying it on your phone again? Ps and on the phones these games are so bad so far. It's still ok on the tablets. Pps, if anything, I'm all in favor of having the AAA go out on the phones. And I really hope that in the future full-fledged adult games will be released more on Apple devices 🙏🏻👾

[@amigoSeiya]

Most people prefer to buy games on Steam, myself included. macOS versions tend to be a lot more expensive than the Steam counterpart. I have purchased on the App Store all of the resident evil games, just to show support for gaming on Apple. However, with the gptk, most people will go with Steam versions of the game due its prices

[@Phredreeke]

when it comes to portable gaming I'd much rather play on a nintendo switch with its even slow for its time Tegra X1 chip (or the nintendo 3ds with it's iphone 3GS-level specs) but with actual controllers rather than touch screen controls. touch screen CAN work great, when the game was made with it in mind, rather than being a port of a game from another platform

[@njoudrey1]

Does anyone know what percentage of Lies of P players were on Mac? Just curious since they released it on all platforms at the same time...

[@Emuland69]

Blame Apple for this. They need to fund more ports. They have more than enough cash to help fund these games and offset some of the costs. Then again Apple has always half assed gaming and likely will never fully step into it. These AAA games released so far will likely be some of the only ones we see. I'd be very surprised if other publishers take this route.

[@KalpeshPatel78]

Mac's are not bought for gaming. And if Apple wants people to game on the Apple silicon, they might as well buy the titles and sell them for really cheap. Personally, I think a lot of those games are much better priced on Steam than on Apple App Store. Why would I buy it from the app store? Secondly, I love to game, but I have a 16 inch Macbook pro for work. I have a good PC with 2 year old specs for gaming. I would not use the Mac for gaming, even though it can.

[@f11bot]

Don't they all have horrible touch controls? Who's gonna carry around a gamepad? So yeah, plus being only available on the latest models doesn't help at all. And idk about the battery life impact, never tested them.

[@eclipticpath]

This is the dilemma: People who don't play games don't care to buy games People who do already has a PC or a console for it. The group of people who are gamers but only own a Mac/iPhone is non-existent.

[@DavideDavini]

So your suggestion is to make Mac Gaming the same as Mobile Gaming on phones. I don't quite understand how that's better from a gamer point of view, but hey, to each their own. I'm out.

[@neerajprataphazarika1390]

people who buy apple products buy it knowing its not for gaming. so most apple users dont even bother gaming on their apple products. they have enough money to buy consoles if they have any gaming desires.

[@retrogroovtv]

they just need to improve the app store if thats the main focus. if they can make the app store compete with steam then they might have something 🤔 i wish they would just allow for full steam support for gaming haha

[@BarelyAverageDude]

Im lifelong mac user, but I'm a PC gamer. Why would any gamer want to buy games that are only available on Apple devices?

[@Stanin84]

First I have to say that I am glad Apple trying go into gaming. Even I have PS5 with subscription, I am enjoying gaming on Mac more (mainly thanks to CrossOver), than on PS5. But I have Mac for work (base M1 Pro 14"), so I can justify its high price. If I want Mac for home usage, I would consider base Air which is with its 8 GB RAM, passive cooling and 256 GB of storage bad choice for gaming. With high costs of upgrades for 16/512 option it is completely out of range and I can get more powerful gaming laptop for lower price (e.g. Legion Slim 5 14" in full specs). MacBook Pros prices are on another level for home usage. I could also build gaming rig, but I don't want any desktop solution and I don't even want Windows.

[@disgustingdust1584]

Here are some suggestions that Apple could consider: 1) Value for money. Why buy a 3 years old game for full price in the app store, when you can buy it, in a steam sale for less. Regular sales, realistic prices (for old-ish games) might help the platform. 2) Heal old wounds. Apple could eat some humble pie and heal the wounds with Valve, Nvidia and others, to help their platform with games and game developers. 3) Commit to a platform. Rather than keep changing. In Apples 30 / 40 yr, they have changed CPU’s what 4 times, been friends with graphics manufactures then enemies. This tends to upset developers who have just converted to one platform or mastered one Platform. Only having to develop for yet another maybe temporary platform, till apple decided to change again. Apple needs to commit to Apple Silicon and Metal for at least 10 years or longer. 4) Alternatively, Apple could commit to an open standard and support Vulkan, Open GL & Metal natively. Dropping Open GL support, is what upset Valve and stopped the development of Half-life for Macs, back in the OS9 days. As mentioned, wounds need healing. Not forgetting the issue with epic games and the loss of the native fortnight build. 5) Develop a method of supporting on board GPUs and installable GPUs (Nvidia / AMD). They had intel laptops with Dual Nvidia GPU’s, the 2009 MacBook Pros. I could see a Mini Gaming tower with an Apple silicon GPU and a slot for an installable GPU. I am sure that would sell like gang busters and not to just gamers. 6) Stop pushing triple A titles, that run better on other platforms and push AA or indie titles. Not to mention the attitudes of some triple A developers (EA) to such subjects as “crunch” and burning out staff; closing of game development, because their games don’t sell well. Quickly pushed out, buggy games, are all the hallmarks of triple A publishers. 7) Buy or heavily invest in companies who port or bring windows games to the Apple platform (Codeweavers / Crossover, Feral interactive, etc) 8) Port the back catalogue of old 32 bit Mac games to 64 bit. 9) FUN! Gaming is hard to quantify “what is fun” as everyone has their own definition of “what is fun” or “what’s fun to play”. Death stranding, looks pretty, but “is it fun to play?” I have never played it, so I would be rather unscientific to judge something I have never played. I have played previous Kojima games and found the lacking in fun. Being preached at for 30 minutes at the end of Metal Gear Solid 2 and be told to "stop playing the game", by the game. So, I took its advice and stop playing. If the Mac platform is know as a more casual gaming platform than a “hardcore Gamer” platform, then why not embrace the casual and make it the best and most fun casual gaming experience available. Continue to improve the compatibility to use game controllers on the platform. Create a dedicated Gaming App / Store, that understands its' market and knows what its' player base wants, such as cross platform playability (iPad, iOS OSX). Multiplayer cross platform support with Mac and PC, maybe even console. Basically a better gaming store experience. 10) With Arm Chips becoming a windows PC (laptops) thing now and games not preforming well on those snapdragon chips, even through prism. Maybe game developers might start developing with the Arm chip set in mind and create games that work on both platforms. but that’s just wishful thinking. 11) Buy or invest in gaming studios to help develop native games for the platform. The third most wealthy tech company in the world and they cant buy four game developers and get them to develop games on the platform. Apple could give them the freedom that the likes of EA and Ubisoft and Microsoft don’t, to create games that might or might not be the next big thing, but, to do as Apple once sold its self upon and “Think Different”.