Parallels
Full Windows 11 ARM inside macOS.
Difficulty: EasyCost: $14.99 + CrossOverEstimate
CrossOver
How to play Journey on Mac
· 2020
Plays smoothly through CrossOver on Apple Silicon.
Overall rating: Runs great on Mac · 100% of 1 players say it runs well
Your setup
Detect your Mac to see whether Journey will run.
Plays smoothly through CrossOver on Apple Silicon.
How to run Journey on your Mac in 2026
Best path: Parallels
Should run in a Windows 11 ARM virtual machine (Parallels). This is an estimate — not a verified report. Demanding 3D titles may need lower settings.
- Heads up on Parallels: Estimated compatibility — no verified report yet
Journey
Explore the ancient, mysterious world of Journey as you soar above ruins and glide across sands to discover its secrets.
Journey runs exceptionally well on Apple Silicon using CrossOver with D3DMetal enabled, providing a near-native experience even on base M1 hardware.
What the world thinks
- Install CrossOver: Download and install CrossOver Mac.
- Create a Bottle: Create a new bottle named 'Journey' and set the type to Windows 10 64-bit.
- Install Steam: Within the new bottle, click 'Install' and search for Steam.
- Enable High-Performance Features: Before launching Steam, go to the right-hand sidebar in CrossOver and toggle D3DMetal (this uses the Game Porting Toolkit) and Msync. These are crucial for stable frame rates.
- Launch and Play: Open Steam, download Journey, and launch.
- Whisky (Free): You can use the open-source Whisky wrapper (which also utilizes Game Porting Toolkit). Create a bottle, install Steam, and ensure 'Retina Mode' is disabled if you encounter scaling issues.
- Parallels Desktop: While Journey will run in a Parallels Windows VM, performance is significantly lower than CrossOver or Whisky due to the overhead of virtualizing the entire OS. Expect stutters in open desert areas.
Performance
How Journey runs on your Mac, from our performance model and player reports.
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Best way to play it on Mac
Journey runs exceptionally well on Apple Silicon using CrossOver with D3DMetal enabled, providing a near-native experience even on base M1 hardware.
See if this is the right method for your setup
Ways to play Journey on Mac
Here are all the options available, ranked by what we recommend first.
Compare methods at a glance
Lower = betterHow each supported method stacks up on setup effort, time and runtime overhead.
Method
Setup Difficulty
Time Investment
Performance Overhead
- ParallelsVMTop pickSetupModerateTime30 minOverheadHigh
Where to buy Journey
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Step-by-step setup guides
Idiot-proof walkthroughs for every method.
How to run Journey on Mac with Parallels
Estimate· CompatibilityUsing Parallels to play Journey 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
- Buy / start a trial of Parallels Desktop.
- Install Windows 11 ARM via the one-click wizard.
- Inside Windows, install Steam / Xbox app and Journey.
- Enable DirectX 11 in Parallels settings for best 3D performance.
Video proof
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Our recommendation
For most Mac players we recommend Parallels as the fastest, smoothest way to play Journey. Full Windows 11 ARM inside macOS.
| Method | Quality | Difficulty | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| ParallelsPick | Good | Medium | $99/year + Windows licence |
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