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CrossOver

How to play Elden Ring on Mac

Action / RPG · 2022

Compatibility under review

Some of the Mac compatibility details for this game are internally inconsistent and are being re-verified. Treat the verdict below as provisional.

Best played through CrossOver on Apple Silicon.

Overall rating: Runs great on Mac · 91% of 23 players say it runs well

Your setup
Detect your Mac to see whether Elden Ring will run.

Best played through CrossOver on Apple Silicon.

How to run Elden Ring on your Mac in 2026

Best path: CrossOver

CrossOver runs the Windows version of Elden Ring on Apple Silicon by translating DirectX to Metal. One-click install, no Windows virtual machine, full local performance.

MethodQualityDifficultyCost
CrossOverPickGoodMedium$74 / $39/yrGet it ↗
ParallelsEstimateMedium$99/yrGet it ↗
Get CrossOver Try Parallels Buy on AllKeyShop See all methods & install guide ↓

Elden Ring

96
Metacritic
10.0
Metacritic Users

THE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED FANTASY ACTION RPG. Rise, Tarnished, and be guided by grace to brandish the power of the Elden Ring and become an Elden Lord in the Lands Between.

Elden Ring runs well in CrossOver on Apple Silicon (CodeWeavers Gold on CrossOver 26.2), but for single player only, as Easy Anti-Cheat does not run under CrossOver and online co-op and invasions are unavailable. There is no licensed cloud option for online play, because Bandai Namco has not put the game on GeForce NOW or Xbox Cloud Gaming.

Buy on AllKeyShopSee how to play it on your Mac
Elden Ring screenshot 1Elden Ring screenshot 2Elden Ring screenshot 3Elden Ring screenshot 4Elden Ring screenshot 5Elden Ring screenshot 6

What the world thinks

Performance

How Elden Ring runs on your Mac, from our performance model and player reports.

See exactly how Elden Ring will run on your Mac

Pick your chip and RAM for a personalised estimate.

Recommended settings

Base chips
M1 / M2 / M3 / M4 Base · MacBook Neo
1080p45 FPS
Preset: Low
  • D3DMetalEnabled
  • ESyncEnabled
  • Shadow QualityLow
  • Anti-AliasingTAA

Resolution is capped ~1512x982 in CrossOver. Online multiplayer (EAC) is not functional. Set framerate cap to 60 in-game.

Pro chips
M1 / M2 / M3 / M4 Pro
1080p45-60 FPS
Preset: Medium
  • D3DMetalEnabled
  • ESyncEnabled
  • Shadow QualityMedium
  • Anti-AliasingTAA

M2 Pro can hit 60fps on Medium. Push to High if your frame counter stays above 50.

Max · Ultra
M1 / M2 / M3 / M4 Max & Ultra
1080p50-60 FPS
Preset: Medium-High
  • D3DMetalEnabled
  • ESyncEnabled
  • Shadow QualityHigh
  • Anti-AliasingTAA

M3 Max averages ~53fps. Resolution cap limits true 4K — 1080p with high quality settings gives the best result.

Don't know your tier?

Sources: applegamingwiki.com/wiki/Elden_Ring · reddit.com/r/macgaming

Best way to play it on Mac

Elden Ring runs well in CrossOver on Apple Silicon (CodeWeavers Gold on CrossOver 26.2), but for single player only, as Easy Anti-Cheat does not run under CrossOver and online co-op and invasions are unavailable. There is no licensed cloud option for online play, because Bandai Namco has not put the game on GeForce NOW or Xbox Cloud Gaming.

Buy on AllKeyShopSee how to play it on your Mac
See if this is the right method for your setup

Ways to play Elden Ring on Mac

Here are all the options available, ranked by what we recommend first.

Compare methods at a glance

Lower = better

How each supported method stacks up on setup effort, time and runtime overhead.

  • CrossOverTranslationTop pick
    Setup
    Moderate
    Time
    15 min
    Overhead
    Medium
  • ParallelsVM
    Setup
    Moderate
    Time
    30 min
    Overhead
    High

Where to buy Elden Ring

Live prices compared across trusted PC key sellers — updates every few hours.

Platform-by-platform reliability

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Step-by-step setup guides

Idiot-proof walkthroughs for every method.

How to run Elden Ring on Mac with CrossOver

Good· Compatibility

Running Elden Ring through CrossOver translates its Windows DirectX calls into Metal on Apple Silicon — no reboot, no Windows license, no virtual machine. Most setup time is spent on first-time bottle configuration and installing the game launcher (Steam, Epic, etc.) inside CrossOver. Once that's done, launching feels close to native. Expect 15–30 minutes of setup on the first run.

Step-by-step

Step 1 — Create a bottle

  1. Open CrossOver → click New Bottle
  2. Name it after the game (e.g. Elden Ring) and choose Windows 10 64-bit
  3. Open the bottle's Settings and set:

- Graphics: D3DMetal (not DXVK)

- Synchronization: ESync

- High Resolution Mode: Off

Step 2 — Install the game launcher

  1. Inside CrossOver, click Install Application → search for Steam (or Epic Games Launcher if you own it there)
  2. Install it into the same bottle you just created
  3. Launch Steam, log in, and let it fully update before proceeding

Step 3 — Install and launch Elden Ring

  1. Open Steam (or your launcher) inside CrossOver
  2. Install Elden Ring through the launcher as normal
  3. Launch the game — use the launcher's Play button, not CrossOver directly
  4. First launch may take 30–90 seconds to show a window. Don't force-quit unless it hangs for several minutes.

Step 4 — If you hit issues

  • Black screen / stuck in small window: go to Settings → Graphics in-game, set Screen Type to Fullscreen, then restart
  • Resolution resets on every launch: find the game's config/settings file and set the resolution values manually, then mark the file Read-Only to prevent the game overwriting it
  • Crashes on startup: try switching the bottle's Synchronization from ESync to MSync, or vice versa

Video proof

Try CrossOver free for 14 days ↗Affiliate link — supports the site at no extra cost.

How to run Elden Ring on Mac with Parallels

Estimate· Compatibility

Using Parallels to play Elden Ring means running a full copy of Windows 11 ARM inside macOS. This is the most "it just works" approach for games that don't behave under CrossOver, and DirectX 11 is hardware-accelerated. You'll need a Windows license and roughly 80 GB of disk space.

Step-by-step

  1. Buy / start a trial of Parallels Desktop.
  2. Install Windows 11 ARM via the one-click wizard.
  3. Inside Windows, install Steam / Xbox app and Elden Ring.
  4. Enable DirectX 11 in Parallels settings for best 3D performance.

Video proof

Try Parallels Desktop free ↗Affiliate link — supports the site at no extra cost.

Our recommendation

For most Mac players the best way to play Elden Ring on Mac is CrossOver. One-click local install, official support.

MethodQualityDifficultyCost
CrossOverPickGoodMedium$74 one-time / $39/year
ParallelsEstimateMedium$99/year + Windows licence
Try CrossOver free for 14 days

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