Native
Runs directly on Apple Silicon — no extra software.
Difficulty: EasyCost: Game price onlyExcellent
Rosetta
How to play Oxygen Not Included on Mac
Simulation · 2019
Runs through Rosetta 2 from the Intel Mac build.
Overall rating: Runs great on Mac · 100% of 2 players say it runs well
Your setup
Detect your Mac to see whether Oxygen Not Included will run.
Runs through Rosetta 2 from the Intel Mac build.
How to run Oxygen Not Included on your Mac in 2026
Best path: Native Mac build
Oxygen Not Included has a native Apple Silicon build — full Metal acceleration, best battery life, zero faff.
| Method | Quality | Difficulty | Cost | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NativePick | Excellent | Easy | Game price only | |
| Boosteroid | Estimate | Easy | $9.95 /mo | Get it ↗ |
Oxygen Not Included
Oxygen Not Included is a space-colony simulation game. Deep inside an alien space rock your industrious crew will need to master science, overcome strange new lifeforms, and harness incredible space tech to survive, and possibly, thrive.
Oxygen Not Included is fully compatible with Apple Silicon via its native Intel macOS build and runs flawlessly under Rosetta 2. The Mac build is Intel-only (x86_64) and runs on Apple Silicon through Rosetta 2 translation — it's a Mac app, but not a true arm64 native one. Expect a ~10–15% performance tax versus a real native port.
What the world thinks
If you are on an older, base-model Mac with very little RAM (8GB) and your colony has reached thousands of cycles, the CPU simulation may eventually stutter.
- Access Boosteroid via a Chromium-based browser.
- Search for Oxygen Not Included and launch via your Steam profile.
- This offloads the heavy simulation calculations to their servers, though you will trade off input latency for performance.
Performance
How Oxygen Not Included runs on your Mac, from our performance model and player reports.
See exactly how Oxygen Not Included will run on your Mac
Pick your chip and RAM for a personalised estimate.
Best way to play it on Mac
Oxygen Not Included is fully compatible with Apple Silicon via its native Intel macOS build and runs flawlessly under Rosetta 2. The Mac build is Intel-only (x86_64) and runs on Apple Silicon through Rosetta 2 translation — it's a Mac app, but not a true arm64 native one. Expect a ~10–15% performance tax versus a real native port.
See if this is the right method for your setup
Ways to play Oxygen Not Included on Mac
Here are all the options available, ranked by what we recommend first.
Boosteroid
Needs 25+ Mbps internet, wired ideal.
Difficulty: EasyCost: $9.95 / monthEstimate
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
- NativeNativeSetupSimpleTime5 minOverheadLow
- BoosteroidCloudSetupSimpleTime5 minOverheadLow
Where to buy Oxygen Not Included
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 Oxygen Not Included on Mac with Native
Excellent· NativeOxygen Not Included 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 Oxygen Not Included.
- Confirm the product page lists macOS / Apple Silicon support.
- Install and launch — no extra tools needed.
Video proof
How to run Oxygen Not Included on Mac with Boosteroid
Estimate· StreamingStreaming Oxygen Not Included 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 Oxygen Not Included 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.
Our recommendation
The best way to play Oxygen Not Included on your Mac is the Intel Mac build running through Rosetta 2. Runs directly on Apple Silicon — no extra software.
| Method | Quality | Difficulty | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| NativePick | Excellent | Easy | Game price only |
| Boosteroid | Estimate | Easy | $9.95 / month |
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