Initially being a constantly-developing tabletop game from 1987, the whole Warhammer 40000 universe has brought massive attention and grown into a world of truly fascinating video games. It is a real-time strategy taking place in a fictional military world where incredibly technological human civilization is set to fight against alien creatures contaminating the world. There are more than 5 most positively-acclaimed chapters from the whole Warhammer 40000 series – Dawn of War; Space Marine; Mechanicus; Inquisitor; and Space Hulk are only a few out of many more to consider depending on what genre you like. Whether you desire to sit back and see your troops grow while building the base or slash through detestable orcs as a marine soldier from a first-person perspective, there is always one matching your needs in the Warhammer world of video games. Take all the determination you have and become a true warrior who will lead his troops to the long-awaited victory. Warhammer 40000 series are not only about monotonous fighting, but also the plot that evolves continuously during the game. Immerse yourself into the grim and dark future of old and recently developed installments, where bloodthirsty action against alien creatures sees no logical ending. Players are now in especially high anticipation of Darktide – a new, intense and brutal action co-op shooter looking to score new heights in the Warhammer world. While some series pieces can be played on Mac, many of them are still heavily focused on Windows, lacking support for macOS. Our guide below will solve this problem and help you launch any non-supported Warhammer 40000 video game on macOS. Parts of this article could also be useful for Windows users to overcome hardware boundaries that cannot afford a high-graphics gameplay experience.
Play Warhammer 40K games on Mac with Parallels
Warhammer 40K games often require 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 any Warhammer 40K 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 Warhammer 40K games on Mac with cloud gaming services
If you have an old Mac, or it cannot satisfy Warhammer 40000 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 Warhammer 40K games 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 Warhammer 40K games on Mac
This method is simple but time-consuming. If your Mac meets all the system requirements above, you can play Warhammer 40K games 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)