Mac version missing

[Tososha]

Hello, could you please make a Mac-version too? There are a lot of Mac-users nowadays. The time that everybody was on Windows is long gone. So please, let us MAc-userrs also run it on our apple computers.

[MikeFulton]

Mac market share has been right around 10% for decades. It bounces up or down by 1% occasionally but is remarkably consistent overall.

Gaming on Mac is an unfortunate problem. There aren't a lot of serious gamers on Mac because a lot of games don't come out for Mac, and games don't come out on Mac because there aren't a lot of serious gamers.

It was easier back when Apple used Intel CPUs because you could boot into Windows to play a game. But Apple decided it would be more profitable to use their ARM-based CPUs instead so they switched.

[Tososha]

There are many many mac users worldwide. Windows users don't want to admit it. Gaming on mac is not a problem, a Mac is perfectly capable of handling heavy games. MAc has steam too and many big games have a mac version. Look at Baldur's Gate 3, Death Stranding or No Man's Sky for example. So what is Zen Studios not making Pinball FX for mac?? Nonsense!

[MikeFulton]

Originally posted by Tososha:

There are many many mac users worldwide. Windows users don't want to admit it. Gaming on mac is not a problem, a Mac is perfectly capable of handling heavy games. MAc has steam too and many big games have a mac version. Look at Baldur's Gate 3, Death Stranding or No Man's Sky for example. So what is Zen Studios not making Pinball FX for mac?? Nonsense!

It has nothing to do with me not wanting to admit anything. In fact, I was a Mac user myself for many years, starting with the Mac II back in 1987. Along the way, I had a PowerMac in the mid 90's, the original iMac, and a 27" iMac. I also had an i7 MacBookPro and I used to boot into Windows and play games on it all the time.

When that machine died, I got an M1 based Mac Book and soon discovered that I could no longer boot into Windows and that none of my games worked any more. And it wasn't just games, either.

It's not a matter of the Mac being capable. Current models have plenty of power and Mac-native games are generally comparable to games on Windows. The issue is that when publishers release their games on Mac, the sales often fail to meet expectations. The main games that do okay on Mac are usually the really big titles -- like Baldur's Gate 3.

Unfortunately, Pinball FX, is not not a "really big title". It's a niche game that appeals to a niche market. It's not a mainstream release.

Your best bet is probably one of the various solutions for running Windows apps on Mac.

[Knowsome]

https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/

see for yourself OP, gamers that run steam on OSX(Mac's Operating system) is less than 2% of the steam userbase. Your boast about mac isn't as big as you claim to be, in fact not even close.

You can imagine that most developers see a fraction of said return by people that run their games on Mac. Also Coding for Mac is somewhat tiresome, frustrating, and i would think most developers see it as "too much effort, almost nothing in return".

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qRQX9fgrI4s

Dev from the game "heartbound".

[Tososha]

Even if it's only 1 or 2 % of the users that use Mac, that's 1 to 2% of 132 million people we're talking about. That's a lot of people, or not? I would appreciate it if they make a mac version on steam for Pinball FX, becausse docking this game through a steamdeck on my tv causes framerate drops and controller lag. I can't get it to run well. I want to play it on a bigger screen and a Mac version could be a good solution if Zen studios is not going to fix the problem with the dock.

[themazingness]

Originally posted by Tososha:

Even if it's only 1 or 2 % of the users that use Mac, that's 1 to 2% of 132 million people we're talking about. That's a lot of people, or not? I would appreciate it if they make a mac version on steam for Pinball FX, becausse docking this game through a steamdeck on my tv causes framerate drops and controller lag. I can't get it to run well. I want to play it on a bigger screen and a Mac version could be a good solution if Zen studios is not going to fix the problem with the dock.

I think your route to playing the game is more likely to come from your Steam Deck, unfortunately. Average players on Steam is about 83 at a time https://steamcharts.com/app/2328760

There's just no reason for them to go the Mac route when the player base for Steam is already that low. As others have said, it is niche. Mac is even more niche. If 2% of 83 people is the market, they'd be porting the game for 0-2 people to play at any given time.

Pinball FX has been ported to a plethora of devices that do have enough players to be worth it. You're best bet is going to be to get your Steam deck working or buying another device in your budget.

Have you taken a look at these resources?

https://steamcommunity.com/app/442120/discussions/0/3711559379112680432
https://steamcommunity.com/app/442120/discussions/0/3487502140233302495
https://www.protondb.com/app/2328760?device=steamDeck
https://www.reddit.com/r/PinballFX3/comments/1729igx/any_plans_to_fix_pinball_fx_for_steam_deck/

[MikeFulton]

Originally posted by Tososha:

Even if it's only 1 or 2 % of the users that use Mac, that's 1 to 2% of 132 million people we're talking about. That's a lot of people, or not? I would appreciate it if they make a mac version on steam for Pinball FX, becausse docking this game through a steamdeck on my tv causes framerate drops and controller lag. I can't get it to run well. I want to play it on a bigger screen and a Mac version could be a good solution if Zen studios is not going to fix the problem with the dock.

I wish you luck but it seems unlikely.

[Tososha]

Thanks, If they refuse to do this eventually it will be the last time that I spend such big money on them.

[themazingness]

Originally posted by Tososha:

Thanks, If they refuse to do this eventually it will be the last time that I spend such big money on them.

Respectfully, you knew what you were getting into buying a Mac. The onus is generally on the gamer to have a compatible device. especially in the case where there are so many platforms it has been made available for.

Another suggestion, you could sell your Steam Deck and get a Rog Ally instead. I can't say first-hand, but it looks like it runs Pinball FX nicely, and you don't have to rely on Proton to make things work since it is Windows based.