Is it possible to play Darksiders III on Mac?
Created by Gunfire Games, Darksiders III is an Action-RPG taking place on a post-apocalyptic Earth. The game is mainly focused on combat and exploration, with the role-playing elements being pretty much limited to a leveling system. Unlike many post-apocalyptic games, Darksiders III (and the Darksiders series as a whole) is a fantasy-based one. The world was not left barren and desolate due to a nuclear blast, the humanity was not purged by an ancient virus. Rather, it was a war between Heaven and Hell that reduced Earth to ruins. The player characters are, consistently, Horsemen of the Apocalypse – this time, the player will take the role of Fury, a whip-wielding mage on her quest to purge Earth from Seven Deadly Sins. To accomplish this, Fury, and thus the player, will have to traverse an expansive open world, engage in parkour, and, of course, defeat countless creatures using the game’s hack-n-slash combat system. The game was originally released in 2018 on Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. In 2021, it has also received a port to the Nintendo Switch. This makes it rather obvious that the game is unlikely to ever receive a Mac port – it would’ve been already done if the developers were interested. Despite this, you can play Darksiders III on Mac, as there are several unofficial solutions. Read the guide below to learn about these.
Play Darksiders III on Mac with Parallels
Darksiders III 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 Darksiders III 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 Darksiders III on Mac with cloud gaming services
If you have an old Mac or it cannot satisfy the Darksiders III 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. Nvidia GeForce Now is the most important one in this list, as it has Darksiders III in its game library.
Play Darksiders III 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 Darksiders III on Mac
This method is simple but time-consuming. If your Mac meets all the system requirements above, you can play Darksiders III 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 and older
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)