Mac is getting another AAA game release with Cyberpunk 2077

By Carli Velocci October 30, 2024

Judy leans over a table in Cyberpunk 2077. — CD Projekt Red

Another huge game is set to hit Macs soon. CD Projekt Red announced that Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition, which comes with the Phantom Liberty DLC, will be the latest AAA title to be playable on Apple Silicon.

CD Projekt Red didn’t have a lot of information to share, but it’s targeting a 2025 release and will support features like path tracing, which offers a similar effect as ray tracing, frame generation for increased frame rates, and built-in spatial audio. It’ll be available on the Mac App Store and Steam. If you own a copy of the game for PC on Steam, it’ll carry over to your Mac. The studio will have more details at a later date.

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MacOS hasn’t always been known as a great system for playing video games. While there are some excellent games you can play on Mac, many of them don’t require powerful hardware to run. Apple has been working to fix that over the past few years, with technology like MetalFX upscaling that can boost gaming performance without requiring a discrete GPU.

With M3 and M4 Apple Silicon, Mac gaming has been taken to new levels. Apple has been touting this prowess with AAA releases like Resident Evil Village, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, and Death Stranding: Director’s Cut. Mac has also gotten newer releases like Lies of P and Baldur’s Gate 3.

The question is if anybody will want to play these games on Mac to begin with. Apple still has a long way to go in that regard, and it definitely needs more games to do it. But for CD Projekt Red, it just gets Cyberpunk 2077 on a new platform. It’s already on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC, but it was also on Google Stadia (RIP) at launch. After Mac, the only platform missing is the Nintendo Switch, although that release would be extremely unlikely.

Topics

Contributor, Games

Carli is a technology, culture, and games editor and journalist. They were the Gaming Lead and Copy Chief at Windows Central…

Gaming

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty fixes my biggest problems with the base game

V rides a motorcycle while shooting at a mech in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty.

When Cyberpunk 2077 launched in December 2020, I so desperately wanted to love it. I was enamored with its intricate open-world design, which featured an impressive level of verticality, but it was hard to ever get fully immersed due to its slew of launch problems. Pair that with a lore-heavy story that was filled with cyber-talk and I often found myself feeling lost in Night City -- and not in the good way I want from an open-world game.

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty — Official Trailer

Gaming

Macs are getting a ‘Game Mode’ feature and Death Stranding: Director’s Cut

Sam Bridges gives a peace sign in Death Stranding: Director's Cut.

Death Stranding: Director's Cut is coming to Mac, Hideo Kojima announced today during WWDC 23. The news came amid a brief gaming section during Apple's annual showcase, which also introduced a new Game Mode for Macs.

During WWDC's gaming block, Apple highlighted how the likes of No Man's Sky and Stray have made their way to Mac before announcing a dedicated Game Mode for Mac that prioritizes the CPU and GPU and minimizes latency on Xbox and PlayStation controllers. Apple also announced the Game Porting Toolkit for Metal, which should make it easier for game developers to bring their games to Mac.
After all that, Apple introduced Kojima, who said he's been an Apple fan since he bought a Mac in 1994 and confirmed that Death Stranding: Director's Cut is coming to Mac. This enhanced version of Kojima's 2019 hit was previously released for PS5 and Windows, with new missions, features like a firing range and racing, and more.
The Mac version of the game will benefit from utilizing technology like Metal 3 and MetalFX Upscaling, although it doesn't seem like Apple fans should expect anything in the way of new content. That will likely be saved for the game's upcoming sequel, Death Stranding 2.
At the end of his segment, Kojima also stated that "we are actively working to bring our future titles to Apple platforms." This potentially hints at the fact that games like Death Stranding 2 and his Xbox-published title could eventually make their way to Apple's devices.
Death Stranding: Director's Cut will launch for Mac on an unspecified date later this year, with preorders opening soon.

Computing

Thanks, I hate it: Someone installed macOS on a Steam Deck

macOS Catalina running on a Steam Deck.

Yesterday we got the news that Apple might bring macOS to the iPad Pro. Today, someone has managed to get macOS to run on a Steam Deck. And tomorrow? I’m betting we’ll see macOS installed on a toaster. You heard it here first.

Back to the Steam Deck. The feat was achieved by enterprising Reddit user Lampa183, who apparently was able to get macOS Catalina running inside a VirtualBox virtual machine on their device. In other words, this is several layers of operating systems and emulation. But the result is worth it … right?