Please consider a native macOS / Apple Silicon version - market analysis

[K0BA]

Please Consider Native macOS / Apple Silicon Support

ARC Raiders is a perfect fit for Mac's growing mid-core co-op audience: the 30-minute PvPvE extraction runs, sci-fi setting, and strong team focus map very well to how a lot of Mac players game today.

The Market Opportunity

On Steam, macOS currently sits in the mid-single-digit market share, but nearly 80% of those Mac gamers are now on Apple Silicon, which has enough GPU/CPU power to run modern 3D titles, and Steam itself runs natively on these chips.

There is no native, modern extraction shooter on Mac right now. Games like Helldivers 2 and Escape from Tarkov both have active Mac communities relying on Crossover, cloud PCs or other workarounds just to play, which shows demand but also friction.

Mac Users Are a Premium Audience

At $40, ARC Raiders targets exactly the demographic that dominates Apple Silicon adoption: 18-44 year-olds with professional income who already invested $1,500-$3,000+ in their gaming-capable Macs. These users have proven willingness to pay for quality titles and actively support developers who bring native Mac builds, viewing each purchase as a vote for the platform.

Key demographics:

• 40% of MacBook users use their devices for gaming
  
• 55.7% of Mac users are aged 18-34 (prime gaming demographic)
  
• 30.4% are aged 35-54 (professionals with high purchasing power)
  
• Mac users represent a "small but high-value" segment with higher revenue per customer

Unlike free-to-play audiences that require massive scale, a Mac version could achieve profitability with a smaller but higher-paying, more engaged player base—exactly the type of community that thrives in co-op extraction shooters.

Technical Feasibility: UE5 Makes It Relatively Easy

ARC Raiders is built on Unreal Engine 5, which significantly lowers the technical barrier for a macOS port. UE5 has native Apple Silicon support for both editor and runtime builds since version 5.0, with continuous improvements in later versions.

Epic officially supports exporting macOS builds directly from the engine, meaning developers can target Mac with minimal additional engineering effort compared to custom or proprietary engines. While Unity has historically struggled with macOS performance, UE5 provides first-class macOS deployment with native ARM64 support.

Given that ARC Raiders already runs well on diverse hardware by strategically optimizing UE5 features, porting to Apple Silicon would primarily involve testing and validation rather than fundamental re-engineering—making it a relatively low-risk, high-reward opportunity.

Proven Genre Success on Mac

Mac already has a proven survival/multiplayer audience. Games like Rust (which recently added native Apple Silicon support with anti-cheat), Don't Starve Together, Valheim, Terraria, Project Zomboid, and Grounded all run natively on Apple Silicon and have active Mac communities.

Even games without official support show the demand:

• ARK: Survival Evolved - Mac players use community patches and Rosetta 2 despite unreliable multiplayer
  
• DayZ - Works via VMware Fusion Pro with online play, showing Mac players willing to jump through hoops
  
• Helldivers 2 - Extensive community guides for running on Apple Silicon via workarounds
  
• Escape from Tarkov - Mac users rent cloud PCs just to access it

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Why This Matters

A native ARC Raiders build targeting Apple Silicon could:

• Give the game a unique "first mover" position as THE extraction shooter on macOS
  
• Tap into a fast-growing, relatively high-spending player base currently forced into emulation/cloud solutions
  
• Benefit from Apple's ongoing push for showcasing high-end games on Mac, which may open marketing support opportunities

Even an initial feasibility exploration or public statement ("we are investigating Apple Silicon support") would already generate goodwill and buzz in Mac gaming communities.

The hardware is ready. The audience is ready. ARC Raiders could own this space.

[Hoplite]

+1 for mac!!!

[Karmonon]

+1

[Joey the <]:^]]

+1

[No.]

+1 Please Mac support.

[buildermaster07]

+1 for mac support !

[Gessar]

surely this is satire

[Maro]

Yeah I’d love to be able to play this while traveling. I have a MBP m4Pro and I bet it would run well.

[Kamiloman]

+1

[superfastsi]

+1 no reason not to do it

[Syylvaro]

+ 1, would buy if I could

[SukhMan]

+1

[Aegis Kleais™]

In a perfect world, Macs would be capable gaming machines. But pound for pound, compared to Windows, they just aren't. Don't get me wrong; I absolutely LOVE my MBP. And I hate having 2 different platforms. Would love to go all Mac and drop Windows completely. But I don't think it's apples vs. oranges, IMO.

[Soylent Green Energy]

"Get a PC. Why should the developers deviate from their vision just to cater to you? This game was made with Windows in mind, so If you can't handle that, then play something else." -PvP players.

[SyWö | LockenCharlie]

Im a Mac User. But I have a PC just for gaming. If you are a real gamer you wil get botrh

[darthanonymous1]

agreed also easy anti cheat does have an option on macos to enable like steam deck!