Running Ubisoft games on a Mac via Bootcamp on Windows 10

[tamas.k]

I have a MacBook Pro and I am running Windows 10 via Bootcamp.
Full specs here: https://support.apple.com/kb/SP747?locale=en_US

I have been having startup and/or sound issues with every Ubisoft game released after 2005 that I have. After a long search I have finally found just the help I needed and I thought I would share it.

What I was experiencing

I bought Assassin's Creed 1, 2, Brotherhood, Revelations and 3, as well as Prince of Persia 2008 and The Forgotten Sands here on Steam.
- AC1 could not load a new game and had sounds missing in the main menu.
- AC2, Brotherhood, Revelations and 3 would not start after the Uplay loading screen, I just got a white flash.
- PoP 2008 had absolutely terrible performance and all sound were cut off after 2 seconds.
- PoP TFS actually ran pretty well but all of the on screen UI was missing, I could not save a game and there were a lot of sounds missing here as well.

I have tried giving admin rights to everything (turns out Steam does that anyway for you), as well as applying compatibility modes, switching DirectX modes, etc. but nothing worked.

But here is what worked

- Install Windows 10 on your Mac with the built in Apple Bootcamp software, following the official steps, no manual file modification is needed whatsoever.
- Of course make sure all Apple drivers and Windows updates are installed.
- Create a Virtual Hard Drive with the built in Management utility in Windows 10.
https://www.windowscentral.com/how-create-and-set-vhdx-or-vhd-windows-10
- It is OK to install Steam and Uplay on the C: drive.
- But all Ubisoft games must be installed on the virtual hard drive, so make sure to select that drive upon installing those games.
- Steam and Uplay can work with these separately installed games out-of-the-box, no further linking is needed.

After I have done this, all of my games ran perfectly, no other modification or extra installations were needed, I just installed Steam, I installed the games on the VHD and everything worked out-of-the-box.

I tested single- and multiplayer modes (for that make sure your Ubisoft password only has letters and numbers in it), I tested whether game saves work right, even eith Uplay. I also activated all the special CD Keys as I bought Maxed out editions of these games, all of those work as well.

Performance-wise I could not wish for more. The integrated Intel Iris 540 chip in my machine runs all of these on mid-high settings in 720p very well. The virtual hard disk probably slows it a bit, I believe that is why there are framerate drops on demanding cutscenes, but it barely affects the gameplay experience.

Everything is smooth, and right now this is the only way I could get these games to work on my Mac.

So that is all, I hope it helps and I thank for the people giving this advice (bottom of the page):
https://steamcommunity.com/app/812140/discussions/0/1728711392734497947/?ctp=2

[叫我大寶寶]

Thx a lot. It's finally worked. You are rly amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing )))

[DLXDDD]

Works after installing on virtual hard drive. Tq very much.

[Auticons]

This really works!!! You can't believe how glad I was for seeing the Ubisoft flash screen coming up! You're my hero!

[miniscorchio]

Thank you so much! I tried troubleshooting this for over 2 hours and your fix worked first try! Thank you so much for all the effort you put into this post.

[dijonson]

This is about a year late, but I'll add that this worked for me too!! I will say that I started playing before the whole game had downloaded and for some reason the whole VHD disappeared once I closed the lid on my MacBook. Not sure why or what happened, will update this post if I find out, but just something to be aware of.

[tamas.k]

The VHD behaves like an external HD in some cases. You need to click on the vhd file to "reconnect it to the computer"

For everyone, glad I could help. The solution was not my idea, I really just wanted to write a comprehensive guide for those who are looking just for this fix.

[papillon89]

You sir are a hero. over a week crying over valhalla not launching and talking to ubisoft tech. this worked.

[Xaha2425]

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ legendary. Bug still appears with the Valhalla on a Bootcamp - Mac - Win 10 combo.

[Apparently_Kid]

it works, tho when I switched back to mac os then to windows the game disappears, like I have to reinstall, this happening to others?

[miniscorchio]

Originally posted by Apparently_Kid:

it works, tho when I switched back to mac os then to windows the game disappears, like I have to reinstall, this happening to others?

I had some trouble like that too. I think the issue is the virtual hard drive doesn't show up right away so you have to readd the game to steam using the add a game function. Once you do that, you shouldn't have to reinstall.

[Soleil]

Broooo thanks so much for this! It helped so much esp when I almost lost hope using boot camp lol as a diehard creed fan. I will say though if anyone has any issues with the games suddenly wanting you to reinstall even though you already have it installed, just open the VHD in file explorer and restart steam

[muerthe_svk]

Thank you this worked also for me! And works with other AC games AC2, Revelations and Brotherhood

[orimia]

OMG you are a LEGEND! Assassins Creed 2 used to crash every time I ran the game, showing just a black screen with a white box on the top left corner. I searched through all the solutions I could think of and yours worked!
Thank you so much!

[hectorxelo]

TY, your tutorial really worked, after more than 10 attemps the game got launched.

Originally posted by tamas.k:

I have a MacBook Pro and I am running Windows 10 via Bootcamp.
Full specs here: https://support.apple.com/kb/SP747?locale=en_US

I have been having startup and/or sound issues with every Ubisoft game released after 2005 that I have. After a long search I have finally found just the help I needed and I thought I would share it.

What I was experiencing

I bought Assassin's Creed 1, 2, Brotherhood, Revelations and 3, as well as Prince of Persia 2008 and The Forgotten Sands here on Steam.
- AC1 could not load a new game and had sounds missing in the main menu.
- AC2, Brotherhood, Revelations and 3 would not start after the Uplay loading screen, I just got a white flash.
- PoP 2008 had absolutely terrible performance and all sound were cut off after 2 seconds.
- PoP TFS actually ran pretty well but all of the on screen UI was missing, I could not save a game and there were a lot of sounds missing here as well.

I have tried giving admin rights to everything (turns out Steam does that anyway for you), as well as applying compatibility modes, switching DirectX modes, etc. but nothing worked.

But here is what worked

- Install Windows 10 on your Mac with the built in Apple Bootcamp software, following the official steps, no manual file modification is needed whatsoever.
- Of course make sure all Apple drivers and Windows updates are installed.
- Create a Virtual Hard Drive with the built in Management utility in Windows 10.
https://www.windowscentral.com/how-create-and-set-vhdx-or-vhd-windows-10
- It is OK to install Steam and Uplay on the C: drive.
- But all Ubisoft games must be installed on the virtual hard drive, so make sure to select that drive upon installing those games.
- Steam and Uplay can work with these separately installed games out-of-the-box, no further linking is needed.

After I have done this, all of my games ran perfectly, no other modification or extra installations were needed, I just installed Steam, I installed the games on the VHD and everything worked out-of-the-box.

I tested single- and multiplayer modes (for that make sure your Ubisoft password only has letters and numbers in it), I tested whether game saves work right, even eith Uplay. I also activated all the special CD Keys as I bought Maxed out editions of these games, all of those work as well.

Performance-wise I could not wish for more. The integrated Intel Iris 540 chip in my machine runs all of these on mid-high settings in 720p very well. The virtual hard disk probably slows it a bit, I believe that is why there are framerate drops on demanding cutscenes, but it barely affects the gameplay experience.

Everything is smooth, and right now this is the only way I could get these games to work on my Mac.

So that is all, I hope it helps and I thank for the people giving this advice (bottom of the page):
https://steamcommunity.com/app/812140/discussions/0/1728711392734497947/?ctp=2

[Ubi-WheelyDuck]

Hey guys,

It is really great to see that these steps have been helping, thank you for sharing your experiences.

I will now lock this thread.

- Ubisoft Support