Does Middle-earth: Shadow of War run on Mac?

Middle-earth: Shadow of War isn't native, but it runs well through CrossOver — a Windows compatibility layer that translates DirectX into Metal on Apple Silicon.

Can I play Middle-earth: Shadow of War on an M1/M2/M3 MacBook?

Yes. On an M1/M2/M3 MacBook the best route is CrossOver, which works across the whole Apple Silicon line.

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CrossOver

How to play Middle-earth: Shadow of War on Mac

RPG · 2017

Plays smoothly through CrossOver on Apple Silicon.

Overall rating: Tricky to run on Mac · 0% of 1 players say it runs well

Your setup

Detect your Mac to see whether Middle-earth: Shadow of War will run.

Plays smoothly through CrossOver on Apple Silicon.

How to run Middle-earth: Shadow of War on your Mac in 2026

Best path: Parallels

Runs in a full Windows 11 ARM virtual machine — the universal fallback for Windows games. Demanding 3D titles may need lower settings.

Heads up on Parallels: Requires a Parallels licence and a Windows 11 ARM install

Method	Quality	Difficulty	Cost
ParallelsPick	Excellent	Medium	$99/yr	Get it ↗
CrossOver	Good	Medium	$74 / $39/yr	Get it ↗
Boosteroid	Good	Easy	$9.95 /mo	Get it ↗
Whisky	Playable	Medium	Free	Get it ↗
Game Porting Toolkit	Good	Advanced	Free	Get it ↗

Get Parallels Try CrossOver See all methods & install guide ↓

Middle-earth: Shadow of War

Venture into Mordor as Talion, forging your own army of Orcs in a dynamic open world. The Nemesis System ensures enemies remember your encounters, leading to deeply personal vendettas and evolving rivalries.

The sequel to Shadow of Mordor is fully playable on Apple Silicon using CrossOver or Whisky.

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

High

~60 fps

M3 chip

Ultra

~60 fps

M4 chip

Ultra

~120 fps

M5 chip

Ultra

~120 fps

Best way to play it on Mac

The sequel to Shadow of Mordor is fully playable on Apple Silicon using CrossOver or Whisky.

See how to play it on your Mac

See if this is the right method for your setup

Ways to play Middle-earth: Shadow of War on Mac

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

Recommended

Parallels

Full Windows 11 ARM inside macOS.

Difficulty: MediumCost: $99/year + Windows licenseGood

Try Parallels Desktop free 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 ↓

Boosteroid

Needs 25+ Mbps internet, wired ideal.

Difficulty: EasyCost: $9.95 / monthGood

Get Boosteroid 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

ParallelsVMTop pick
Setup
Moderate
Time
30 min
Overhead
High
BoosteroidCloud
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 Middle-earth: Shadow of War

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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 Middle-earth: Shadow of War on Mac with Parallels

Good· Compatibility

Using Parallels to play Middle-earth: Shadow of War 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 Middle-earth: Shadow of War.
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 Middle-earth: Shadow of War on Mac with CrossOver

Good· Compatibility

Running Middle-earth: Shadow of War 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. Middle-earth: Shadow of War) 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 Middle-earth: Shadow of War

Open Steam (or your launcher) inside CrossOver
Install Middle-earth: Shadow of War 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 Middle-earth: Shadow of War on Mac with Boosteroid

Good· Streaming

Streaming Middle-earth: Shadow of War 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

Create a Boosteroid account and pick a plan.
Use the web client or download the macOS app.
Add Middle-earth: Shadow of War 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 Middle-earth: Shadow of War on Mac with Whisky

Playable· Compatibility

Running Middle-earth: Shadow of War 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 Middle-earth: Shadow of War and run it from Whisky.

Video proof

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

How to run Middle-earth: Shadow of War on Mac with Game Porting Toolkit

Good· Compatibility

Running Middle-earth: Shadow of War 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 Middle-earth: Shadow of War 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 Parallels as the fastest, smoothest way to play Middle-earth: Shadow of War. Full Windows 11 ARM inside macOS.

Method	Quality	Difficulty	Cost
ParallelsPick	Excellent	Medium	$99/year + Windows license
CrossOver	Good	Medium	$74 one-time / $39/year
Boosteroid	Good	Easy	$9.95 / month
Whisky	Playable	Medium	Free
Game Porting Toolkit	Good	Advanced	Free

How to play Middle-earth: Shadow of War on Mac

Best path: Parallels

Middle-earth: Shadow of War

What the world thinks

Performance

Ways to play Middle-earth: Shadow of War on Mac

Parallels

CrossOver

Boosteroid

Whisky

Game Porting Toolkit

Compare methods at a glance

Where to buy Middle-earth: Shadow of War

Platform-by-platform reliability

Step-by-step setup guides

How to run Middle-earth: Shadow of War on Mac with Parallels

Step-by-step

Video proof

How to run Middle-earth: Shadow of War on Mac with CrossOver

Step-by-step

Video proof

How to run Middle-earth: Shadow of War on Mac with Boosteroid

Step-by-step

Video proof

How to run Middle-earth: Shadow of War on Mac with Whisky

Step-by-step

Video proof

How to run Middle-earth: Shadow of War on Mac with Game Porting Toolkit

Step-by-step

Video proof

Our recommendation

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