For those with a MacBook running Apple Silicon (m1+), you’ll be pleased to know that you can play many of our favourite games in a Parallels VM running Windows 11 ARM.
Getting Started
To test if running games on your MacBook will work under Parallels, you can do the following:
- Download Parallels (trial) or UTM.
- Anecdotally, from our experiences, Parallels performs better than UTM when running legacy games.
- Setup a Windows 11 ARM VM and install any associated helper tools from the virtualisation vendor.
Alternatively, you can look into using Crossover to run your games using a Windows compatibility layer. @AusSTY has used this to run Satisfactory quite… satisfactorily.
Note: For on-going use, you may need to purchase software licenses.
Games tested on Apple Silicon
| Game | Playable? | Virtualisation | Device | Tester |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warcraft 3 (Classic) | Yes |  Parallels (Windows 11 ARM) |
MacBook Pro M3 Pro with 38Gb RAM | @AusSTY |
| Satisfactory | Yes | Crossover |
MacBook Pro M3 Pro with 38Gb RAM | @AusSTY |
| No Man’s Sky | Yes | None - native! |
MacBook Pro M3 Pro with 38Gb RAM | @AusSTY |
| PAYDAY The Heist | Yes | Crossover - Win11 |
MacBook Pro M3 Pro with 38Gb RAM | @AusSTY |