Hardspace: Shipbreaker is a game developed by Blackbird Interactive. The premise of the game is relatively simple – the main character is heavily in debt. To repay this near-astronomical amount of money, our protagonist takes on a dangerous, but highly lucrative job, dismantling derelict starships in outer space. Figuring out the correct salvaging strategy is not easy, as the ships contain many dangerous elements such as fuel tanks and numerous electrical components. Accidental explosions, decompression, and other similar complications can seriously complicate your work and turn many expensive ship components into useless junk. This severely impacts your profits – not something you can afford when you’re in massive debt. Do your job poorly, and it will grow due to interest rates. Do your job well, and it will be paid off in no time. To accomplish this, you’re given various different tools – safety gear, a laser cutter, demolition charges, sensors, and more. The story of the game is not its strong point, and has been criticized for its simplicity and political bias. Thankfully, it can be ignored, as the game has a freeplay mode that disables campaign entirely. Another game mode is “timed challenges”, in which, as the name suggests, the player only has a limited amount of time. Though certainly enjoyable, Hardspace: Shipbreaker suffers from a certain flaw, its limited availablity. It can be played only on PS4, Xbox One, and Windows. There are some unofficial ways to play Hardspace: Shipbreaker on Mac, however. Read the article below to learn more about them.
Play Hardspace: Shipbreaker on Mac with Parallels
Hardspace: Shipbreaker 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 Hardspace: Shipbreaker 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 Hardspace: Shipbreaker on Mac with cloud gaming services
If you have an old Mac or it cannot satisfy the Hardspace: Shipbreaker 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 Hardspace: Shipbreaker 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 Hardspace: Shipbreaker on Mac
This method is simple but time-consuming. If your Mac meets all the system requirements above, you can play Hardspace: Shipbreaker 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)