Batman: Arkham Knight by Rocksteady Studios is the latest released game in the Batman: Arkham series (not counting spinoffs and mobile games). It is an open-world game played from a 3rd person view. Naturally for a game about Batman, it is set in Gotham City – a fictional city where he canonically resides and operates. Faithful to the comic, the game implements many of his abilities and tricks. The players will engage in melee combat, use stealth, and even use detective skills to solve mysteries, much like Batman from the original stories. His liberal use of technology is also reflected – the game has plenty of gadgets for the players to use, including, for the first time in the series, the famous Batmobile. The story of the game is best experienced by those already familiar with the franchise, but it’s accessible enough for the beginners, too. A supervillain named Scarecrow attacked Gotham City, causing many residents to flee. Batman, naturally, plans to confront Scarecrow about this, but, unbeknownst to him, Scarecrow has a plan, to unite Batman’s enemies against him. What’s more, an enigmatic person, known only as Arkham Knight, saw fit to help Scarecrow with his nefarious plan. The game is available only on Windows, PS4, and Xbox One. But it can be played on OS X as well – read our guide to learn how to play Batman: Arkham Knight on Mac.
Play Batman: Arkham Knight on Mac with Parallels
Batman: Arkham Knight requires lots of PC resources, but if you have a powerful Mac computer (iMac, iMac Pro, or Mac Pro) Parallels Desktop can be a solution. This is an application that allows for Windows virtualization on Mac with the full support of DirectX and GPUs. In simpler terms, what this means is that it allows you to install Windows 10 on Mac with just a couple of clicks and switch between MacOS and Windows instantly. So you will be able to run Windows, install Steam, and enjoy the Batman: Arkham Knight game on Mac just like on a regular PC.
Note: Recommended devices to run resource-demanding games: MacBook Pro (models with an Intel processor, discrete graphics cards, and 16 GB of RAM or more), iMac (models with Intel processor, discrete graphics cards, and 16 GB of RAM or more), iMac Pro (all models are suitable), Mac Pro (all models are suitable). Parallels on Mac computers with M1 (M1 Pro, M1 Max) chips may not support recent games. Games that require DirectX 12 and later are currently not supported by Parallels. AppsOnMac recommends using Parallels’ free trial feature to determine whether you can run the game or not if you’re uncertain.
Play Batman: Arkham Knight on Mac with cloud gaming services
If you have an old Mac or it cannot satisfy the Batman: Arkham Knight game system requirements, there is an easy solution. Cloud gaming services will be happy to provide you with sufficient computing power – though not for free, of course. All you need is a browser or a small client program and a good internet connection starting from 15 MBit/s. There are several great platforms that provide these services, among the best are Boosteroid, Xbox Cloud Gaming, and Nvidia GeForce Now.
Play Batman: Arkham Knight on Mac with BootCamp
Note: Mac computers with new Apple Silicon (M1, M2, M3 Pro, or M1, M2, M3 Max) currently do not support BootCamp. In this case, please, use the options above to run Batman: Arkham Knight on Mac
This method is simple but time-consuming. If your Mac meets all the system requirements above, you can play Batman: Arkham Knight on Mac by installing Windows. You need to set up a dual boot of Windows and Mac via BootCamp. This is an application that allows users to choose the system to work in on startup, however, you won’t be able to switch between systems like in Parallels. You will need to reboot your machine every time you want to switch from Mac to Windows and vice versa. Remember that Mac is just a computer, in the end. And while newer Macs have their own special Apple Silicon chips that cannot run Windows, older Macs are very much similar to computers that run Windows, they have Intel processors, compatible RAM, disks, and other components. So you can install Windows on an older Mac by allocating no less than 64 GB of disk space (to be able to run Windows and a couple of games) and following these steps:
For OS X El Capitan 10.11 or later
For MacOS versions prior to OS X El Capitan 10.11 you will need to create a bootable Windows USB.
- Download this Windows ISO file.
- Open Boot Camp Assistant (Go to Applications > Utilities).
- Define the Windows partition size and choose the Windows ISO file you’ve downloaded.
- Format the Windows partition and go through all Windows installation steps.
- When Windows boots for the first time, follow on-screen instructions to install Boot Camp and Windows support software (drivers)