'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
In response to a Reddit post, Brent “Brentmeister” Randall, an engineer on gameplay integrity, discussed the macOS port of Valorant.
The shooter launched last year in June for Windows PCs. Since its inception, fans have been speculating about a potential port for macOS.
Considering League of Legends is one of the few games available to play on a mac system, Riot Games, the developer behind both titles, doesn’t seem opposed to the idea of porting the game to the Mac platform.
macOS and Valorant
macOS is the operating system exclusive for Apple manufactured computers. With the recent steps taken by the tech giant, macOS’s future lies in the ARM architecture.
Valorant is currently playable only on Windows running on x64 architecture CPUs. ARM and x64 are two fundamentally different CPU architectures.
Valorant is playable on macOS by using boot camp. However, it doesn’t have any native version to run on Windows. macOS has implemented a software translation layer called Rosetta 2 in the latest macOS 11.0 Big Sur. Rosetta 2 can run native x86 applications on ARM architecture.
On the user end, it is as simple as just running the application like all the other ones, and they don’t have to worry about the translation as it happens in the backend of the system.
Unfortunately, Valorant doesn’t have any macOS version to take advantage of the Rosetta 2 translation layer.
Riot Brentmeister on macOS port of Valorant
Recently, a Redditor, u/Visual_Addendum_5163, posted a message regarding the topic on the Valorant subreddit. He clarified that he could not run boot camp as he lacked storage space, which led him to wonder about a Valorant native version for macOS.
League of Legends, a famous multiplayer online battle arena or MOBA developed by Riot, is available on macOS.
Brentmeister replied to Visual_Addendum_5163 and clarified that there are no current plans for porting Valorant to macOS:
“I worked on porting LoL to Mac native all those years ago and have seen firsthand the development time it takes to port to/maintain Mac. As much as we’d like to reach every platform and player, we have to look at where our development time is most effective for the entire player base.”
He suggested that Visual_Addendum_5163 use an external Thunderbolt drive for boot camp.
Related: Valorant on MAC is a big possibility, but perhaps not anytime soon
To his comment, another Reddit user asked if the implementation is limited due to Vanguard.
Brent clarified that Vanguard does need to be ported to macOS. However, it isn’t the only issue. Several factors are contributing to the obstacle of a macOS port, one of which is the Vanguard.
Unfortunately for macOS users, the only possible way of playing Valorant at the moment seems to be limited only to boot camp. Hopefully, the developers at Riot considers a macOS port in the future.
