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Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire cover art
Rosetta

How to play Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire on Mac

RPG · 2018

Not officially supported, but there are workarounds below.

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

Your setup
Detect your Mac to see whether Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire will run.

Not officially supported, but there are workarounds below.

How to run Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire on your Mac in 2026

Best path: Native Mac build

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire has a native Apple Silicon build — full Metal acceleration, best battery life, zero faff.

MethodQualityDifficultyCost
NativePickExcellentEasyGame price only
BoosteroidEstimateEasy$9.95 /moGet it ↗

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire

88
Metacritic
10.0
Metacritic Users

Explore a vast archipelago in this deep, party-based RPG, making choices that shape a dynamic world. Engage in tactical combat and intricate storytelling as you hunt a rogue god through a richly detailed, pirate-themed setting.

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.

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What the world thinks

Performance

How Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire runs on your Mac, from our performance model and player reports.

See exactly how Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire will run on your Mac

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Best way to play it on Mac

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 Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire 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: $49.99Excellent

Compare methods at a glance

Lower = better

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

  • NativeNativeTop pick
    Setup
    Simple
    Time
    5 min
    Overhead
    Low
  • BoosteroidCloud
    Setup
    Simple
    Time
    5 min
    Overhead
    Low

Where to buy Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire

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 Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire on Mac with Native

Excellent· Native

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire 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

  1. Use the verified store link on this page, or open the store where you already own Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire.
  2. Confirm the product page lists macOS / Apple Silicon support.
  3. Install and launch — no extra tools needed.

Video proof

How to run Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire on Mac with Boosteroid

Estimate· Streaming

Streaming Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire 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 Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire from their library (you'll need to own it on Steam/Epic).

Video proof

Get BoosteroidAffiliate link — supports the site at no extra cost.

Our recommendation

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

MethodQualityDifficultyCost
NativePickExcellentEasyGame price only
BoosteroidEstimateEasy$9.95 / month

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