CrossOver
One-click local install, official support.
Difficulty: EasyCost: $59.99Good
CrossOver
How to play Total War: Rome II on Mac
Strategy · 2013
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 Total War: Rome II will run.
Plays smoothly through CrossOver on Apple Silicon.
How to run Total War: Rome II on your Mac in 2026
Best path: CrossOver
CrossOver runs Total War: Rome II natively on Apple Silicon by translating DirectX to Metal. One-click install, no Windows VM, full local performance.
Total War: Rome II
76
Metacritic
Total War: Rome II is a grand strategy game set in the ancient world. Lead vast Roman armies in epic real-time battles while managing your empire through intricate turn-based campaigns.
Total War: Rome II has a native Apple Silicon build — download it directly and play without any extra software. The original macOS build is 32-bit and will not launch on macOS Catalina (10.15) or newer, including Apple Silicon Macs. Use CrossOver or cloud streaming to play it on a modern Mac.
What the world thinks
Performance
How Total War: Rome II runs on your Mac, from our performance model and player reports.
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Best way to play it on Mac
Total War: Rome II has a native Apple Silicon build — download it directly and play without any extra software. The original macOS build is 32-bit and will not launch on macOS Catalina (10.15) or newer, including Apple Silicon Macs. Use CrossOver or cloud streaming to play it on a modern Mac.
See if this is the right method for your setup
Ways to play Total War: Rome II on Mac
Here are all the options available, ranked by what we recommend first.
Parallels
Full Windows 11 ARM inside macOS.
Difficulty: MediumCost: $99/year + Windows licenceEstimate
32 bit
Alternative way to play.
Difficulty: MediumCost: —Estimate
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
- CrossOverTranslationTop pickSetupModerateTime15 minOverheadMedium
- ParallelsVMSetupModerateTime30 minOverheadHigh
Where to buy Total War: Rome II
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Step-by-step setup guides
Idiot-proof walkthroughs for every method.
How to run Total War: Rome II on Mac with CrossOver
Good· CompatibilityRunning Total War: Rome II 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.
Total War: Rome II) 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 Total War: Rome II
- Open Steam (or your launcher) inside CrossOver
- Install Total War: Rome II 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 Total War: Rome II on Mac with Parallels
Estimate· CompatibilityUsing Parallels to play Total War: Rome II 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 Total War: Rome II.
- 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 Total War: Rome II on Mac with 32 bit
Estimate· CompatibilityHere's how to set up 32 bit to play Total War: Rome II on your Mac.
Step-by-step
Setup guide coming soon.
Video proof
Our recommendation
For most Mac players we recommend CrossOver as the fastest, smoothest way to play Total War: Rome II. One-click local install, official support.
| Method | Quality | Difficulty | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| CrossOverPick | Good | Medium | $74 one-time / $39/year |
| Parallels | Estimate | Medium | $99/year + Windows licence |
| 32 bit | Estimate | Medium | — |
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