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How to play Guardians of the Galaxy on Mac

Action · 2021

Best played by streaming from the cloud to your Mac.

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Detect your Mac to see whether Guardians of the Galaxy will run.

Best played by streaming from the cloud to your Mac.

How to run Guardians of the Galaxy on your Mac in 2026

Best path: CrossOver

CrossOver runs Guardians of the Galaxy natively on Apple Silicon by translating DirectX to Metal. One-click install, no Windows VM, full local performance.

MethodQualityDifficultyCost
CrossOverPickGoodMedium$74 / $39/yrGet it ↗
ParallelsEstimateMedium$99/yrGet it ↗
BoosteroidEstimateEasy$9.95 /moGet it ↗
WhiskyEstimateMediumFreeGet it ↗
Game Porting ToolkitEstimateAdvancedFreeGet it ↗
Xbox Cloud GamingEstimateEasy$16.99 /moGet it ↗
GeForce NOWEstimateEasyFree / $9.99 /moGet it ↗
Get CrossOver Try Parallels Buy on AllKeyShop See all methods & install guide ↓

Guardians of the Galaxy

Fire up a wild ride across the cosmos with a fresh take on Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. In this action-adventure game, you are Star-Lord leading the unpredictable Guardians from one explosion of chaos to the next. You got this. Probably.

The game is fully playable on Apple Silicon via CrossOver or Whisky using D3DMetal, though it requires a significant amount of GPU power and must have Ray Tracing disabled to run.

Buy on AllKeyShopSee how to play it on your Mac
Guardians of the Galaxy screenshot 1Guardians of the Galaxy screenshot 2Guardians of the Galaxy screenshot 3Guardians of the Galaxy screenshot 4Guardians of the Galaxy screenshot 5Guardians of the Galaxy screenshot 6

What the world thinks

Whisky (Free)

  • Whisky provides a streamlined UI for Apple's Game Porting Toolkit. Ensure you are using the latest version of Whisky and have the GPTK components installed through the app settings. Like CrossOver, you must enable the D3DMetal toggle to handle the game's DX12 calls.

Game Porting Toolkit (CLI)

  • Advanced users can run the game directly via terminal using the Apple Game Porting Toolkit. While performance is identical to CrossOver/D3DMetal, it lacks the ease of bottle management and automatic library fixes.

Performance

How Guardians of the Galaxy runs on your Mac, from our performance model and player reports.

See exactly how Guardians of the Galaxy will run on your Mac

Pick your chip and RAM for a personalised estimate.

Best way to play it on Mac

The game is fully playable on Apple Silicon via CrossOver or Whisky using D3DMetal, though it requires a significant amount of GPU power and must have Ray Tracing disabled to run.

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

Ways to play Guardians of the Galaxy on Mac

Boosteroid and Xbox Cloud Gaming and GeForce NOW are also available for cloud performance on a strong connection.

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
  • BoosteroidCloud
    Setup
    Simple
    Time
    5 min
    Overhead
    Low
  • Xbox Cloud GamingCloud
    Setup
    Simple
    Time
    5 min
    Overhead
    Low
  • GeForce NOWCloud
    Setup
    Simple
    Time
    5 min
    Overhead
    Low
  • ParallelsVM
    Setup
    Moderate
    Time
    30 min
    Overhead
    High
  • WhiskyTranslation
    Setup
    Moderate
    Time
    15 min
    Overhead
    Medium
  • Game Porting ToolkitTranslation
    Setup
    Complex
    Time
    30 min
    Overhead
    Medium

Where to buy Guardians of the Galaxy

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 Guardians of the Galaxy on Mac with CrossOver

Good· Compatibility

Running Guardians of the Galaxy 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. Guardians of the Galaxy) 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 Guardians of the Galaxy

  1. Open Steam (or your launcher) inside CrossOver
  2. Install Guardians of the Galaxy 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 Guardians of the Galaxy on Mac with Parallels

Estimate· Compatibility

Using Parallels to play Guardians of the Galaxy 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 Guardians of the Galaxy.
  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.

How to run Guardians of the Galaxy on Mac with Boosteroid

Estimate· Streaming

Streaming Guardians of the Galaxy through Boosteroid is the fastest way to start playing on a Mac — there's nothing to install, no Windows VM, no compatibility layer. The game runs on a remote GPU and your Mac just receives the video, which means even a base M1 MacBook Air can play the most demanding AAA titles at high settings. The tradeoff is that you need a stable internet connection (ideally wired or 5GHz Wi-Fi with 25+ Mbps down) and a subscription.

Step-by-step

  1. Create a Boosteroid account and pick a plan.
  2. Use the web client or download the macOS app.
  3. Add Guardians of the Galaxy from their library (you'll need to own it on Steam/Epic).

Video proof

Get Boosteroid ↗Affiliate link — supports the site at no extra cost.

How to run Guardians of the Galaxy on Mac with Whisky

Estimate· Compatibility

Running Guardians of the Galaxy 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

  1. Download Whisky (free, requires macOS 14+).
  2. Open Whisky → New Bottle.
  3. Install Steam or your launcher in the bottle.
  4. Install Guardians of the Galaxy and run it from Whisky.

Video proof

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

How to run Guardians of the Galaxy on Mac with Game Porting Toolkit

Estimate· Compatibility

Running Guardians of the Galaxy 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

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

Video proof

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

How to run Guardians of the Galaxy on Mac with Xbox Cloud Gaming

Estimate· Streaming

Streaming Guardians of the Galaxy through Xbox Cloud Gaming is the fastest way to start playing on a Mac — there's nothing to install, no Windows VM, no compatibility layer. The game runs on a remote GPU and your Mac just receives the video, which means even a base M1 MacBook Air can play the most demanding AAA titles at high settings. The tradeoff is that you need a stable internet connection (ideally wired or 5GHz Wi-Fi with 25+ Mbps down) and a subscription.

Step-by-step

  1. Get Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
  2. Open xbox.com/play in Safari, Chrome, or Edge.
  3. Search Guardians of the Galaxy and click Play — no install required.

Video proof

Open Xbox Cloud Gaming ↗Affiliate link — supports the site at no extra cost.

How to run Guardians of the Galaxy on Mac with GeForce NOW

Estimate· Streaming

Streaming Guardians of the Galaxy through GeForce NOW is the fastest way to start playing on a Mac — there's nothing to install, no Windows VM, no compatibility layer. The game runs on a remote GPU and your Mac just receives the video, which means even a base M1 MacBook Air can play the most demanding AAA titles at high settings. The tradeoff is that you need a stable internet connection (ideally wired or 5GHz Wi-Fi with 25+ Mbps down) and a subscription.

Step-by-step

  1. Sign up at GeForce NOW. The free tier works; Ultimate gives 4K/120fps.
  2. Download the GeForce NOW Mac app (Apple Silicon native).
  3. Link your Steam / Epic / Xbox account that owns Guardians of the Galaxy.
  4. Search the title in the app and click Play.

Video proof

Start playing on GeForce NOW ↗Affiliate link — supports the site at no extra cost.

Our recommendation

For most Mac players we recommend CrossOver as the fastest, smoothest way to play Guardians of the Galaxy. One-click local install, official support.

MethodQualityDifficultyCost
CrossOverPickGoodMedium$74 one-time / $39/year
ParallelsEstimateMedium$99/year + Windows licence
BoosteroidEstimateEasy$9.95 / month
WhiskyEstimateMediumFree
Game Porting ToolkitEstimateAdvancedFree
Xbox Cloud GamingEstimateEasyGame Pass Ultimate subscription
GeForce NOWEstimateEasyFree tier / $9.99+ per month
Try CrossOver free for 14 days

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