Is it possible to play No Man’s Sky on Mac?
No Man’s Sky is an absolutely horrifying video game, that was created by Hello Games. The genre of the game may be categorized as scientific fantastic. The main aim of the game is to explore a great variety of galactic and planets. The scorching planets can have different and bright flora and fauna, climate with toxic rains, and surface with snow or tropics. You can dive in caves or dig your own to avoid the dangers. A fantasy world looks so awesome! Some creatures look like some mix of dinosaurs and mammals. You also can meet aliens, discover their rich culture, learn their strange language, and sometimes help them with missions. You also can choose another role in space, become a pirate, and attack other spaceships! Constantly developing updates: Next (2018), Beyond, Synthesis (2019), Origins, Next Generation (2020), Frontiers (2021), and many others add new possibilities, chapters, and territories. This makes a game universality, not a constant. As in the real world, it grows. The game is available on Steam, but only for Windows PC and some consoles. For macOS users, there are several ways how to play No Man’s Sky on Mac. We are looking to explain all ways, just read the text below to learn how.
Awards: The Game Award for Best Ongoing Game, The Game Award for Most Anticipated Game
System Requirements
| Minimal | Recommended |
|---|---|
| OS: Windows 7/8.1/10 (64-bit versions) | OS: Windows 10 64bit (min version 1809) |
| Processor: Intel Core i3 | Processor: Intel Core i5 |
| RAM: 8 GB | RAM: 12 GB |
| Video card: nVidia GTX 480, AMD Radeon 7870 | Video card: (6GB VRAM) NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 / AMD RX 570 (8GB) |
| Disc space: 10 GB | Disc space: 10 GB |
Play No Man’s Sky on Mac with Parallels
No Man’s Sky 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 software for Windows virtualization on Mac with the full support of DirectX and GPUs. It allows you to install Windows 10 on Mac with a couple of clicks and switch between macOS and Windows instantly. You can run Windows just like on a regular PC, install Steam and enjoy the No Man’s Sky game on Mac.
Note: Recommended devices to run resource-demanding games: MacBook Pro (models with 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 versions are suitable), Mac Pro (all versions 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 currently not supported by Parallels.
Play No Man’s Sky on Mac with cloud gaming services
Update: Xbox Cloud Gaming and Nvidia GeForce Now fully support No Man’s Sky! Play the advanced game on an old Windows PC, Mac and Android!
If you have an old Mac, or it cannot satisfy No Man’s Sky game system requirements, there is an easy solution. Cloud gaming provides you with sufficient cloud resources for a fixed fee. All you need is a browser or a small client program and a good internet connection starting from 15 MBits/s. There are several great services, that provide such an opportunity, among the best are Xbox Cloud Gaming, Google Stadia, AirGPU, Boosteroid, and Nvidia GeForce Now. Among these services Boosteroid, Xbox Cloud Gaming, and Google Stadia have No Man’s Sky in their game catalog, and you can play on any Mac computer (starting from MacOS 10.10) and even Android! Each cloud service has its pros and cons, Boosteroid provides great quality and ping, Xbox Cloud Gaming seems more affordable now, as it offers 1$ access in the first month with games included when in Google Stadia games need to be purchased separately.
Play No Man’s Sky 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 No Man’s Sky on Mac
This method is simple but time-consuming. If your Mac meets all the system requirements above, this is probably the best way to play No Man’s Sky for now. You need to set up a dual boot of Windows and Mac via BootCamp. BootCamp 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 switch from Mac to Windows and vice versa. Remember that Mac is just a computer, that uses common processors, RAM, disks, and other components. So you can install Windows on Mac by allocating disc space of a minimum of 64 GB (to be able to run Windows and a couple of games). To set up Windows via BootCamp, please, do the following:
For OS X El Capitan 10.11 or later
Mention, that for MacOS versions prior to OS X El Capitan 10.11 you will need to create bootable Windows USB.
- Download Windows ISO file
- Open Boot Camp Assistant (Go to Applications > Utilities)
- Define the Windows partition size, choose downloaded Windows ISO file
- Format 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)