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Today was the annual Apple Worldwide Developers Conference and while I'm disappointed I'm going to have to wait even longer for an M1-powered iPad Mini, there was a lot to be excited about if you're a Mac gamer. For anyone who's been using a Mac as long as I have (20+ years), we know that Apple and gaming haven't always synced up as well as they should have. Sure, games are a cash machine on the iPhone/iPad, but when it comes to playing the biggest PC and console games, the Mac has often felt like an afterthought. With today's presentation, it looks like Apple is making a good effort to change that with Game Mode and the reveal of Death Stranding Director's Cut for Mac computers.
Game Mode is part of the upcoming macOS Sonoma operating system. The idea behind the feature is it will automatically give games the top priority of CPU and GPU to improve the gaming experience and reduce latency. The new macOS will also include features for game developers, including Metal tools for Windows, which will help developers port their high-end games from PC to Mac. Some of the games that popped up in the presentation include Resident Evil Village, Layers of Fear, and Stray. Oh, and Kojima dropped by to announce Death Stranding Director's Cut is coming to Mac computers.
It's always fun to see Kojima pop up in places where you don't expect him to be. I certainly didn't have him showing his face here on my bingo card, but it is nice to know Kojima Productions is planning to bring future titles to the macOS platform in addition to Death Stranding.
Between this and Apple's continued support of the Apple Arcade subscription service, it's clear the company has turned a corner on gaming. Maybe it's all that money it's made from other people's games on the App Store or the fact that the MacBook Air is, according to Apple, the world's best-selling laptop, but as a lifelong user of the platform, I'm happy developers might be taking it seriously again. I don't know if it'll last, but I would love to get rid of my Windows laptop that I only keep around for the occasional Steam game.
Although, I guess I could do that now and just buy a Steam Deck.