3 Ways to Play ARC Raiders on Mac: Instructions + Performance

ARC Raiders caught my eye the moment I saw that first trailer – the music, the style, that wild 70s sci-fi vibe. But then came the inevitable question: can I play it on my Mac? Short answer – no. But that didn’t stop me. There are ways to cicumvent this ostacle that I’ll tell you about next.

Can You Play ARC Raiders on Mac?

Yes, you can – but not directly. There’s no native Mac version of ARC Raiders, so you won’t find it in the App Store or anywhere optimized for macOS. Still, there are workarounds that get the job done. I tried the three most viable ones: Boosteroid, GeForce Now, Xbox Cloud Gaming, and Boot Camp.

Boosteroid is the method we liked the best after our testing. It’s a decent cloud solution that gives you almost all the perks of more premium options, including 4K, 120 FPS, and very, very long play sessions. At the same time, it’s got a very affordable price tag, which is why we consider it to be the best value option.

GeForce Now is the big name in cloud gaming and for good reason. It’s got servers scattered across the globe and supports high-end streaming – 4K resolution and up to 240 FPS if your connection can handle it. The library is massive, though it’s missing a few top-tier AAA titles. ARC Raiders, however, runs smoothly here. It’s pricey, but if you want the best performance and don’t mind paying for premium tiers, this is the most polished experience.

Xbox Cloud Gaming (XCloud) is more accessible. If you’ve got Game Pass Ultimate, you can jump right in – no downloads, no setup. You’ll be streaming the Xbox version of the game, though, which means no 4K, no mouse or keyboard support, and a noticeable dip in visual fidelity compared to GeForce Now.

Boot Camp deserves a quick nod. It’s only an option for Intel-based Macs, and even then, few of those machines have the GPU muscle for ARC Raiders. If you’re running a high-end iMac or a Mac Pro, you might get away with it, but for most setups, it’s more of a technical curiosity than a practical path.

Click here for a more detailed breakdown of all the methods.

	Boosteroid, GFN, and XCloud	BootCamp
Requirements	≥ 15 Mbps Internet speed (Boosteroid, XCloud) ≥ 25 Mbps Internet speed (GFN)	High-end iMac or Mac Pro with discrete GPU
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

Now let’s move on to how to use those methods.

How to Play ARC Raiders on Mac

Alright, so let’s get into the how. After testing every possible route to make ARC Raiders run on a Mac, I’ve narrowed things down to a few workable setups. Each one has its own quirks – some are plug-and-play, others need a bit of patience and technical curiosity. Below, I’ll walk you through what worked for me with GeForce Now, Xbox Cloud Gaming, and even the more experimental Boot Camp route for Intel Macs.

Play ARC Raiders With Boosteroid

How to Play XXX 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 “XXX”, 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. XXX will launch directly in your browser.

Play ARC Raiders With GeForce Now

How to Play ARC Raiders 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 ARC Raiders, 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.

Play ARC Raiders With XCloud

How to Play ARC Raiders on Mac With Xbox Cloud Gaming

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Download Microsoft Edge (the best browser for XCloud).
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Open Edge, click the provided XCloud link, sign up, and subscribe to the Game Pass Ultimate plan.
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If you have a game controller, connect it to your Mac.
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If you don’t have a controller, install this Edge extension, pin it to your Toolbar, and turn it on before starting the game.
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Search for ARC Raiders in the XCloud site and click Play.
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If you are using the Mouse and keyboard extension, click the center of your screen when the game starts to enable it.
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When the game loads, you can start playing.

How to Run ARC Raiders 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 ARC Raiders. Once that’s done, you are ready to play.

ARC Raiders on Mac – Performance

Now for the part that really matters – performance. I tested ARC Raiders on my Mac using each of these methods to see how they actually hold up once you’re in the game. It’s one thing to get it running; it’s another to make it playable. Below, I’ll break down what kind of performance, stability, and visual quality you can realistically expect from each option before you decide which one’s worth your time.

Streaming ARC Raiders on MacBook With GeForce Now and Xbox Cloud Gaming

I started with Boosteroid, and honestly, it was a very ride. Once my accounts were linked, ARC Raiders booted up almost instantly. On my 200 Mbps connection, it ran at 1080p with no real stutter, and input lag stayed comfortably under control.

The 4K mode looked incredible, though it does chew bandwidth fast. Using a DualSense controller felt completely natural, and latency stayed below the point where I’d even notice it.

GFN gave me pretty much the same performance and felt a bit more consistent across sessions due to its larger number of servers and server locations.

Then came Xbox Cloud Gaming – easier to access but rougher around the edges. Playing with an Xbox controller felt fine, and the game ran decently at 1080p, but streaming quality dipped more often than I’d like.

And also, since there’s no mouse and keyboard support at the moment, this method isn’t great if that’s your preferred method of playing.

Still, if you already have Game Pass Ultimate and a solid Wi-Fi setup, it’s the simplest route to get playing fast.

Running ARC Raiders on Mac With CrossOver and Whisky

I really wanted to see if I could get ARC Raiders running natively through emulation, so I gave CrossOver, Kegworks and Whisky a fair shot. Both are built on Wine, meaning they can run a surprising number of Windows titles without needing to fully install Windows. In theory, this sounded perfect for skipping cloud streaming altogether. In practice? Not so much.

CrossOver was my first test. Installation went fine, launcher booted, but the moment ARC Raiders tried to initialize its anti-cheat system, everything broke. The process stalled, and the game never actually launched. I tried a few different compatibility layers, even toggled experimental DirectX support – no dice. The anti-cheat simply refused to play ball.

Whisky and Kegworks didn’t fare any better. It got a bit further into setup, but as soon as the anti-cheat kicked in, crash. No workaround, no clever trick – just instant failure. This isn’t unique to ARC Raiders either; most online games with modern anti-cheat tools lock out these emulation environments for security reasons.

So even though both CrossOver and Whisky technically “run” parts of the launcher, the game itself remains completely inaccessible. Until anti-cheat systems start supporting Wine-based compatibility, this route just isn’t an option for ARC Raiders on Mac.

Download ARC Raiders on Mac With BootCamp – Is it Even Worth It?

In Boot Camp, ARC Raiders is theoretically possible, but only on the beefiest Intel Macs. The Windows minimum calls for something in the class of a GTX 1050 Ti / RX 580, and the recommended tier jumps to RTX 2070 / RX 5700 XT.

That’s discrete GPU territory. So I’d only even attempt this on a high-end Intel iMac or a Mac Pro with comparable graphics; most Intel laptops and minis will fall short or thermal throttle.

Expect medium settings at 1080p on capable desktops, and frame rates that swing depending on cooling and drivers. Hit the recommended tier and you might flirt with higher settings, but stability will still be the question. And remember: cloud gaming remains a perfectly valid, often better, path too.

ARC Raiders on Mac – Conclusion

After all the testing, ARC Raiders on Mac isn’t impossible – it just takes a bit of creativity. Cloud gaming is clearly the easiest route: GeForce Now delivers the best performance and visuals, while Xbox Cloud Gaming works fine if you’re already in the Game Pass ecosystem.

Boot Camp can technically run it, but only on powerhouse Intel machines, and CrossOver or Whisky simply won’t cooperate thanks to anti-cheat.

So yes, it’s playable – but not the plug-and-play experience Mac users dream of… yet.