How to Play COD Warzone 2 on Mac: M1 and Intel Guide

Sequel to the extremely popular Call of Duty: Warzone, Warzone 2 is Activision’s answer to Fortnite and PUBG. Improving the original Warzone in virtually every way and introducing a brand-new game mode called DMZ, Warzone 2.0 is already topping most charts of concurrent players on PC and consoles.

Unfortunately, Warzone 2.0 is not officially supported on macOS. To play it on Mac, you’ll need to resort to third-party tools such as Bootcamp or Streaming. 

In this post, we’ll teach you how you can run Warzone 2 on a Mac, including Intel and Apple Silicon models.

Can you play Warzone 2.0 on Mac?

Despite not officially supporting macOS, Warzone 2 can be played on Mac thanks to third-party tools: Streaming for Apple Silicon M1 Macs and Bootcamp on Intel Macs.

Some Windows-exclusive games can run quite well through Virtualization software, but as soon as a game requires Window’s DirectX12.0 graphics API, it becomes much more complicated to run on macOS. At the time of this writing, both Parallels nor CrossOver do not support DirectX12.0 yet.

And to make matters worst, Warzone 2.0 uses an aggressive Anti-cheat system, which complicates things furthermore.

If you have an Intel Mac, you can still run Warzone 2 through Bootcamp. If you have a newer M1 or M2 Mac, however, the only way you can run Warzone 2 is via a streaming service, which is our least favorite method to run a Windows game on Mac and is usually our last resort… We cover both methods in detail below.

Is Call of Duty: Warzone 2 ever coming to Mac?

Given the poor track record of Call of Duty games on Mac, it is highly unlikely that Warzone will be released on macOS anytime soon. The last COD game to feature a native macOS version was Black Ops 3, which was released many years ago.

Porting company Aspyr used to have a great relationship with Activision and the teams behind COD games, but it seems that either priorities shifted or relationships soured because Call of Duty for Mac support is not what it used to be anymore…

Warzone 2 “Mac” requirements

Unless you go with a streaming solution, system requirements remain critical. Especially for a demanding game such as Warzone 2. You won’t be able to find official Warzone 2 Mac requirements, but if you’re thinking about using Boot Camp, the game’s Windows requirements are still applicable:

How to play Warzone 2.0 on Mac

While we prefer to run our games natively, some games are so good we are willing to boot Windows to play them. Valorant, PUBG, and even Overwatch 2 come to mind, but Warzone 2 is definitely one of those games too. But what is the best way to run it on Mac using Windows? 

But what is the best way to run Warzone 2 on Mac using Windows? There are several methods to play Windows games on Mac, each with its advantages and drawbacks:

Just be aware that some of these methods won’t work on all games…

Warzone 2 on Intel Macs: Bootcamp

When it comes to running Windows games on Mac, performance and cost are the main drivers. For that reason, I prefer Boot Camp. Boot Camp is a free utility that allows you to install and run Windows on your Mac in the same way you would on any other computer: natively. But be aware that Boot Camp is currently unavailable for M1 Macs.

How to set it up? Installing Windows using Boot Camp is straightforward. You just need to open the Boot Camp application in your “Utilities” folder and follow the assistant. You can also check Apple’s support page for FAQs and guides on how to install and use Boot Camp.

Bottom line: If you absolutely want to play Warzone 2 on an Intel Mac, you’ll want to use Boot Camp.

Warzone 2 on M1 and M2 Macs

Unfortunately, neither Parallels nor CrossOver can run Warzone 2 on an Apple Silicon Mac. This is due to the usage of DirectX12 (unsupported on both Parallels and CrossOver) and the aggressive anti-cheat system that flags third-party apps as potential threats.

Perhaps a future update will solve this (we know CrossOver is working on it), but for now, the only way you can play it is by using a streaming service. While we stay away from streaming services (because the experience is more expensive and is not as pleasant as simply running the game locally), they do work.

As of right now, the game can be streamed on the following services only:

• Shadow
• airgpu

Best Mac games like Warzone 2

We’ve covered the best FPS games for Mac before, but if I had to recommend a few, these are our favorites:

Game	★ Best Overall	Runner-Up	Best Value
	Borderlands 2	Metro: Exodus	Call of Duty: Black Ops 3
Genre	Co-op	Survival Horror	Competitive
Release date	2012	2021	2015
Metascore	89	82	81
Our rating	★★★★★ Full Review	★★★★☆ Full review	★★★★☆
Requirements	✅ Not Demanding	⚠️ Demanding	✅ Not Demanding
Check Price	Humble Bundle	Check Price	Steam

But what if you’re looking specifically for a Battle Royale game? Worry not; there are a few excellent MacOS native options at your disposal:

Fortnite: Battle Royale

The king of Bottle Royale games and arguably the most famous game ever released, Fortnite is why many Mac gamers don’t even care about PUBG anymore. Fortnite is not only famous because of its unique take on the genre (you can also build structures). It’s also extremely popular, fun, and free to play.

Fortnite is one of our favorite battle royal games on Mac, and because it can be played for free, there’s no reason not to try if for yourself.

CS: GO  Danger Zone

Perhaps not as fashionable as Fortnite, Counter-Strike is still one of the most famous shooters ever released. From Valve Software, CS: GO has been know for years as the king of LAN parties and competitive shooters.

And while that remains true, CS: GO recently expanded to become free-to-play and introduce a Battle Royale mode of is own: Danger Zone. Want to know more about it? Head over to Steam and try it for yourself for free.

Super Animal Royale

While PUBG, Fornite, and CS: GO are clearly competing against each other, Super Animal Royale does its own thing.

Still on Early Access, Super Animal Royale is an intense top-down 2D battle royale game where up to 64 cute (murderous) animals fight to the death across several exotic biomes.

The game is $10.99, but it also offers a Super Free Edition that allows you to play the game fully online and progress syncs to the full version!