Does ELEX II run on Mac?

Yes — ELEX II has a native Apple Silicon build, so it runs directly on macOS with full Metal acceleration.

Can I play ELEX II on an M1/M2/M3 MacBook?

Yes — ELEX II runs natively on every Apple Silicon Mac, including M1, M2 and M3 MacBooks.

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Native

How to play ELEX II on Mac

RPG · 2022

Runs natively on Apple Silicon — no extra software needed.

Overall rating: Runs great on Mac · 100% of 1 players say it runs well

Your setup

Detect your Mac to see whether ELEX II will run.

Runs natively on Apple Silicon — no extra software needed.

How to run ELEX II on your Mac in 2026

Best path: Native Mac build

ELEX II has a native Apple Silicon build — full Metal acceleration, best battery life, zero faff.

Method	Quality	Difficulty	Cost
NativePick	Excellent	Easy	Game price only
CrossOver	Good	Medium	$74 / $39/yr	Get it ↗
Whisky	Playable	Medium	Free	Get it ↗
Game Porting Toolkit	Good	Advanced	Free	Get it ↗

Try CrossOver See all stores ↓

ELEX II

ELEX II is an open-world sci-fi RPG where players explore a shattered planet to unite warring factions. You'll battle mutated creatures and robots, wielding both magic and advanced technology in a desperate struggle for survival.

The sequel is also playable with CrossOver and D3DMetal, with performance varying by machine.

See how to play it on your Mac

What the world thinks

Performance

What each M-series Mac can realistically handle. Tap any chip to report your experience.

M1 chip

High

~60 fps

M2 chip

Ultra

~60 fps

M3 chip

Ultra

~120 fps

M4 chip

Ultra

~120 fps

M5 chip

Ultra

~120 fps

Best way to play it on Mac

The sequel is also playable with CrossOver and D3DMetal, with performance varying by machine.

See how to play it on your Mac

See if this is the right method for your setup

Ways to play ELEX II on Mac

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

Recommended

Native

Runs directly on Apple Silicon — no extra software.

Difficulty: EasyCost: Game price onlyExcellent

How to set up ↓

CrossOver

One-click local install, official support.

Difficulty: MediumCost: $74 one-time / $39/yearGood

Try CrossOver free for 14 days How to set up ↓

Whisky

Free option built on Game Porting Toolkit.

Difficulty: MediumCost: FreePlayable

Download Whisky (free) How to set up ↓

Game Porting Toolkit

Highest local FPS for tinkerers.

Difficulty: AdvancedCost: FreeGood

Get Game Porting Toolkit How to set up ↓

Compare methods at a glance

Lower = better

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

Method

Setup Difficulty

Time Investment

Performance Overhead

NativeNativeTop pick
Setup
Simple
Time
5 min
Overhead
Low
CrossOverTranslation
Setup
Moderate
Time
15 min
Overhead
Medium
WhiskyTranslation
Setup
Moderate
Time
15 min
Overhead
Medium
Game Porting ToolkitTranslation
Setup
Complex
Time
30 min
Overhead
Medium

Where to buy ELEX II

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Platform-by-platform reliability

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Step-by-step setup guides

Idiot-proof walkthroughs for every method.

How to run ELEX II on Mac with Native

Excellent· Native

ELEX II has a native Apple Silicon build, which is the gold standard for playing on a Mac. You get full Metal acceleration, best battery life, and no compatibility weirdness. Just buy it from the Mac App Store or Steam for Mac and play.

Step-by-step

Use the verified store link on this page, or open the store where you already own ELEX II.
Confirm the product page lists macOS / Apple Silicon support.
Install and launch — no extra tools needed.

Video proof

How to run ELEX II on Mac with CrossOver

Good· Compatibility

Running ELEX II 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

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

- Graphics: D3DMetal (not DXVK)

- Synchronization: ESync

- High Resolution Mode: Off

Step 2 — Install the game launcher

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

Step 3 — Install and launch ELEX II

Open Steam (or your launcher) inside CrossOver
Install ELEX II through the launcher as normal
Launch the game — use the launcher's Play button, not CrossOver directly
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 ELEX II on Mac with Whisky

Playable· Compatibility

Running ELEX II through Whisky translates the game's Windows DirectX calls into Metal on the fly. Performance is impressively close to a native Windows PC on Apple Silicon, and you stay entirely inside macOS — no VM, no rebooting. Expect to spend 10–20 minutes on first-time setup.

Step-by-step

Download Whisky (free, requires macOS 14+).
Open Whisky → New Bottle.
Install Steam or your launcher in the bottle.
Install ELEX II and run it from Whisky.

Video proof

Download Whisky (free) ↗Affiliate link — supports the site at no extra cost.

How to run ELEX II on Mac with Game Porting Toolkit

Good· Compatibility

Running ELEX II through Game Porting Toolkit translates the game's Windows DirectX calls into Metal on the fly. Performance is impressively close to a native Windows PC on Apple Silicon, and you stay entirely inside macOS — no VM, no rebooting. Expect to spend 10–20 minutes on first-time setup.

Step-by-step

Install Homebrew: /bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)".
brew tap apple/apple http://github.com/apple/homebrew-apple then brew install game-porting-toolkit.
Create a Wine prefix and install Steam inside it.
Install ELEX II through Steam and launch via gameportingtoolkit.

Video proof

Get Game Porting Toolkit ↗Affiliate link — supports the site at no extra cost.

Our recommendation

For most Mac players we recommend Native as the fastest, smoothest way to play ELEX II. Runs directly on Apple Silicon — no extra software.

Method	Quality	Difficulty	Cost
NativePick	Excellent	Easy	Game price only
CrossOver	Good	Medium	$74 one-time / $39/year
Whisky	Playable	Medium	Free
Game Porting Toolkit	Good	Advanced	Free

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How to play ELEX II on Mac

Best path: Native Mac build

ELEX II

What the world thinks

Performance

Ways to play ELEX II on Mac

Native

CrossOver

Whisky

Game Porting Toolkit

Compare methods at a glance

Platform-by-platform reliability

How to run ELEX II on Mac with Native

Step-by-step

Video proof

How to run ELEX II on Mac with CrossOver

Step-by-step

Video proof

How to run ELEX II on Mac with Whisky

Step-by-step

Video proof

How to run ELEX II on Mac with Game Porting Toolkit

Step-by-step

Video proof

Our recommendation

Comments

Frequently asked questions