Can't launch any games after updating to Mac OS Catalina

[solemn lemon]

Hi, I have recently updated my computer a MacBook Air (13-inch, 2017) to Mac OS Catalina version 10.15.12, and now I can’t play any of my steam games. Before the update I had checked the compatibility for all my games, as I am aware that 32-bit software is no longer supported.

I played as much as I wanted to on the games that would no longer be compatible, and then proceeded with the update, as when I launched one recently purchased game from my library that I wished to play, Life is Strange 2, the game told me that Mac OS Catalina was required to play, before forcing me to quit.

However, when attempting to launch up the game after my OS update, I was greeted with the message “An error occurred whilst updating Life is Strange 2 (disk read error)”, even though the game was fully installed and had been for some time. I couldn’t even open the game to access the screen that had previously told me that I needed to update my operating system. I subsequently tried my other installed games, and all of them bar a free demo- ‘When The Past Was Around – Prologue’ (which dubiously ran as normal)- produced the same error message and didn’t launch, even though they were all Mac-compatible and 64-bit programs, according to Steam. Every other aspect of the Steam Client worked as per usual.

All of the games I have played in this account have functioned perfectly well on this very laptop running both Windows and earlier Mac OS operating systems until this update, so I am sure that it is not an issue with hardware. I also do not have any anti-virus software or firewalls currently in use.

When it comes to fixing this issue myself, I have tried pretty much every viable method suggested, including:

• Restarting the Steam Client multiple times.
  
• Restarting my computer multiple times.
  
• Clearing my Steam download cache.
  
• Checking the read/write permissions of my library folder(s).
  
• Installing games on three separate hard drives which successfully ran games before (I received the same error message each time).
  
• Testing my internet connection (although I doubted this would be the cause as all the installing and updating was completed successfully, it was only when I went to launch these games that the error message popped up).
  
• Completely un-installing steam and removing all steam-related files from all folders on both internal and all external hard drives in use and then re-installing steam and all my games multiple times.

I have searched thoroughly online for any solutions to/other reports of this issue, and found nothing. I would be very grateful for any help or guidance on this matter, as not being able to play any of the Steam games I have paid for is extremely frustrating.

[cSg|mc-Hotsauce]

https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/2/3175526477753131514/

[solemn lemon]

Originally posted by cSg|mc-Hotsauce:

https://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/2/3175526477753131514/

:qr:

Thanks for your response, however, as I mentioned in my first statement, I have un-installed and re-installed Steam multiple times and in fact followed the exact steps from this article, but the problem persists. I don't think my steam client was ever even 32-bit in the first place, as (I also mentioned this above) it functions just as normal and has no problems starting up, it's only the launching of my games which is compromised.

[SeraphSword]

Have you tried creating a new Mac user and launching through that?

[solemn lemon]

Originally posted by SeraphSword:

Have you tried creating a new Mac user and launching through that?

No, I'll give that a go! Thanks :)

[BlackRose]

I understand your problem here, Mac OS Catalina can only run 64bit games make sure you are not running any 32bit games, also with macOS Catalina it has broken steam for many mac players I also had the same problem for a couple of days and the only way to fix it was waiting it out for me i did everything in my power and waited a week and fully restarted steam and it seemed to work, I hope your problem seems to be fixed soon!

[solemn lemon]

Originally posted by PANDA:

I understand your problem here, Mac OS Catalina can only run 64bit games make sure you are not running any 32bit games, also with macOS Catalina it has broken steam for many mac players I also had the same problem for a couple of days and the only way to fix it was waiting it out for me i did everything in my power and waited a week and fully restarted steam and it seemed to work, I hope your problem seems to be fixed soon!

The issue isn't about 32-bit games, as I mentioned. The main game in question I wished to play only came out on mac a few weeks ago :D. Thanks for your advice about waiting it out though, that's my only option now really, hope things work out in the end :)

[kerouac007]

I am going through this exact problem. Hoping for a fix in an update soon. I am able to play a few games after much of the aforementioned process, then back to square one when I quit and come back to play later. Hope it gets resolved soon

[solemn lemon]

Originally posted by crossinho:

Originally posted by SeraphSword:

Have you tried creating a new Mac user and launching through that?

No, I'll give that a go! Thanks :)

Unfortunately this had no effect either, thanks again for your suggestion though.

[Man_Hunter_10K]

My best advice for you is to go back to Mojave (10.14.6). It'll be the last OS that will be backwards compatible for 32bit applications. There's no real need to upset yourself over an OS that is designed to destroy the older line of Macs just to force hardware upgrades and incompatibility of software development.

[solemn lemon]

Originally posted by highlander7k:

My best advice for you is to go back to Mojave (10.14.6). It'll be the last OS that will be backwards compatible for 32bit applications. There's no real need to upset yourself over an OS that is designed to destroy the older line of Macs just to force hardware upgrades and incompatibility of software development.

The trouble with that is that one of the games I was looking forward to playing (see op) actually only runs on Mac OS Catalina. And aside from steam games, I'm not experiencing any issues with other programs on Catalina, although I agree that the concept of dropping 32-bit support in the first place shows a lack of care for a large majority of Apple's userbase.

[[D-D] Krapshoot]

I'm currently considering upgrading my Mac Mojave to Catalina. After reading these comments, I will wait as long as possible to avoid potential issues. Thanks for the comments!

[solemn lemon]

Originally posted by D-D Krapshoot:

I'm currently considering upgrading my Mac Mojave to Catalina. After reading these comments, I will wait as long as possible to avoid potential issues. Thanks for the comments!

If you don't have any issues with Mojave, I'd advise doing so! However, I haven't seen many other users reporting this issue, so most likely it isn't very common. Either way, probably a risk that you don't need to take :)

[Colonel Woolf]

This concerns me a lot. If I update to Catalina maybe 60 or 70% of my favorite apps, especially games will no longer run but its a catch 22 situation. The 10.14.6 update, the last before Catalina, has caused a huge problem for me. For many years I have synched my iPhone, iPad and Macs so I always have all my pictures available on my iPad (for court hearings, meeting, etc) now there is no way to synch pictures! WTF! Also I spent a lot of extra cash to get a new iPad with sim card only to find I can now only send messages to other Apple users which is near useless in a country where everyone has cellphones but less than 0.01% have Macs. I feel cheated and pissed off at Apple. I am extremely disappointed. They have rapidly gone downhill since Steve Jobs died.

[Paradroid]

Old Software always was dropped on Macs and will always been dropped in the future. It is how Apple rolls...

[EpicApik]

I'm not a mac user, but a friend of mine is. And he has the same issues. Is it simple to go back to older versions without any substantial problems and bad impact to the file system? Or It's better to wait?