3 Ways to Play Cities Skylines 2 on Mac

I’ve always loved city builders, and Cities: Skylines 2 looked like everything I wanted – bigger scale, more realism, and deeper systems. But yeah, it’s not available on Mac. At all. The good news? There are ways to play it. I tested all the real options, and here’s what I learned – first-hand.

Can You Play Cities Skylines 2 on Mac?

So, here’s the short version: Yes, but with some caveats. There’s no native Mac version of Cities: Skylines 2. Doesn’t matter if you’re on an M1, M2, Intel, whatever – it’s just not supported. But I wasn’t ready to give up that easily. There are ways to get around this, and I’ve tested them all.

Let’s start with Boosteroid. This is a cloud gaming service that streams the game to your Mac, and honestly, it’s the option I ended up sticking with. It’s stable, the image quality is solid, and pricing-wise, it beats GeForce Now – especially if you’re looking to play in 4K. It doesn’t have as many servers worldwide, but I didn’t really notice major issues.
GeForce Now is another cloud option. Very similar to Boosteroid, but it’s more expensive. You do get high-end features like 4K and 120 fps if your internet can handle it, but Boosteroid gives you almost the same for a lot less money. So while GeForce is still valid, Boosteroid just makes more sense.
Then there’s Boot Camp – the old-school, local way. But it only works on Intel Macs, and even then, you’ll need a seriously powerful one with a dedicated GPU. Honestly, for most Intel users, I’d skip Boot Camp and just go cloud.

How to Play Cities Skylines 2 on Mac

If you’re wondering how to actually get Cities: Skylines 2 running on your Mac, this is the part where I walk you through each method I tested. No fluff, no guessing – just real steps based on what actually worked for me. Whether you’re leaning toward cloud gaming or thinking about digging up an old Intel Mac for Boot Camp, I’ll break it all down so you know exactly what to expect going in.

Play Cities Skylines 2 With Boosteroid

How to Play Cities Skylines 2 on Mac With Boosteroid

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Click the Boosteroid button above. Create an account or sign up with Google.
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Go to your profile page(top-right), click Subscribe, select a preferred plan, and start your subscription.
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Search for “Cities Skylines 2”, choose your preferred version of the game (Steam, Epic, etc.) and click Play (or Install and Play).
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Click OK, Let’s go, and wait for the game to load.
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Log into your game store account. Cities Skylines 2 will launch directly in your browser.

Play Cities Skylines 2 With GeForce Now

How to Play Cities Skylines 2 on Mac With GFN

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Click the GeForce Now link → Join Now → sign up for your preferred plan.
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Go to the Downloads page. Download GeForce Now for macOS.
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Double-click the installer. Drag the app to your Applications folder.
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Launch GFN and log in.
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Click the menu in the top left → Settings → connect your respective game store account.
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Click the menu again → Games → search for Cities Skylines 2, and click Play.
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Wait for the connection test. If you get a weak connection warning, you can ignore it by clicking Continue and still play the game.
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Wait for the game to load and start playing.

How to Run Cities Skylines 2 on Mac With Bootcamp

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Head to Microsoft’s official site and download the latest Windows 10 ISO file.
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Next, open Boot Camp Assistant (found in Applications > Utilities), click Continue → Choose, pick your downloaded Windows ISO file, then click Open.
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Adjust the slider to give your Windows partition at least 50 GB storage, then click Install → Next.
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The installation begins. Follow the prompts, skip the product key prompt by selecting “I don’t have a product key”, then finish setting up Windows as guided.
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Once Windows is installed and set up, download Steam, install it, and use it to download Cities Skylines 2. Once that’s done, you are ready to play.

Cities Skylines 2 on Mac – Performance

If you’re the kind of person who wants to know how each option actually performs before diving in, this part’s for you. I tested every method on my own Mac and paid attention to the stuff that really matters – input lag, visual quality, frame rate, and general stability.

This should give you a clearer picture of what to expect in real-world use, not just on paper. Hopefully, it helps you figure out which method fits your setup best.

Streaming Cities Skylines 2 on MacBook With Boosteroid

I tested Cities: Skylines 2 on both Boosteroid and GeForce Now, and honestly, both worked surprisingly well on my Mac. Boosteroid stood out for me, mainly because 4K support is included in all plans without needing to pay extra.

I used a wired Ethernet connection and kept my ping under 20 ms, and the game felt smooth, responsive, and visually sharp. Load times were quick, and I didn’t run into any weird stuttering or disconnects.

GeForce Now also ran the game really well. I tested it at 1080p and 4K, and performance was solid – especially with their premium tier. But the higher cost for 4K and longer queues on the free tier made me lean more toward Boosteroid overall.

Both required me to log into my Steam account to access the game, and both supported my controller right away. So yeah – two great options, but Boosteroid ended up being the better fit for me.

Download Cities Skylines 2 on Mac With BootCamp – Is it Even Worth It?

I tested Cities: Skylines 2 using Boot Camp on a 16-inch Intel MacBook Pro (2019) with an i9 processor and Radeon Pro 5500M GPU. It actually ran the game decently at medium settings, and I was hitting close to 60 FPS in most situations. The cooling isn’t perfect – it gets loud and warm fast – but it held up well enough during my tests.

Most Intel Macs without a discrete GPU just aren’t built for this. Some higher-end iMacs or Mac minis might handle it, but anything below that will struggle. Boot Camp works, but the setup is clunky, and you’re stuck inside Windows.

Unless you already have a powerful Intel Mac sitting around, I’d say cloud gaming is the better path. It’s simpler, more stable, and it works even on older machines without any extra setup or stress on your hardware.

Cities Skylines 2 on Mac – Conclusion

After testing everything, here’s where I landed: Cities: Skylines 2 isn’t made for Mac, but that doesn’t mean you can’t play it. If you’re on an Intel Mac with serious specs, Boot Camp can work – but it’s clunky and not ideal.

For everyone else, cloud gaming is the way to go. Boosteroid gave me the best overall experience without overcomplicating things or breaking the bank. GeForce Now is solid too, just pricier.

Either way, it’s totally possible to enjoy this game on a Mac – you just need the right setup. Hope this helped you figure out your best path forward.

	Boosteroid and GFN	BootCamp
Requirements	≥ 15 Mbps Internet speed (Boosteroid) ≥ 25 Mbps Internet speed (GFN)	MacBook Pro (i5 or i7) or better
Must Own Game	Yes	Yes
Supported game stores	Steam	Steam
Setup Difficulty	1/5 – 🍼 Child’s Play	3/5 – 🎯 Some Focus Required
Time to Set Up	~ 10 min	~ 1-2 hours
Performance	4/5 – near native experience	1/5 – only a minuscule percentage of Intel Macs can run it
Stability	4/5 – only minor hiccups	5/5 – very stable with powerful enough Macs

Play Cities Skylines 2 on Mac