CrossOver 25 improves DirectX 11 support, works with Epic Games Store
CodeWeavers' CrossOver 25 update adds support for many more games on Mac, including support for games acquired from GOG Galaxy and the Epic Games Store.
An example of playing a Windows game on macOS
As a tool for enabling Windows games to run on Mac, CrossOver has been an invaluable item for opening up Mac gaming. With the release of CrossOver 25, that support is being expanded thanks to a bunch of new features.
Explained in a company blog post, the changes includes Wine 10.0, which has over 5,000 changes affecting many applications that are compatible with it. The update also includes Wine Mono 9.4.0, vkd3d 1.14, MoltenVK 1.2.10, and D3DMetal 2.1.
The D3DMetal 2.1 element alone introduces improved performance for the major Rockstar gaming title Red Dead Redemption 2, as well as support for The Last of Us: Part 1. It also enhances performance for other DirectX 11 games.
The addition of DXMT, a Metal-based implementation of D3D11 on macOS gives another option for running DirectX 11 titles. CodeWeavers claims that, in testing, DXMT showed good performance improvements for people using lower-specification Macs.
Platforms and tinkering
The release is going to be useful for gamers who use the Steam storefront. The latest edition now starts up Steam "significantly faster" so players can get into games quicker.
This is not the only digital storefront change, as both the Epic Games Store and GOG Galaxy are now supported in CrossOver. This allows players to have even more choice in where they can get their games.
The release also makes it easier for players to get up and running with games without fiddling about with as many settings. A new configuration system will get players into games quickly, such as by adding an Auto setting to select the right graphics options depending on settings in the tool's database for that specific game.
CrossOver can also automatically enable AVX for games that require ROSETTA_ADVERTISE_AVX=1 to function under Apple Silicon.
There are also overrides for various settings that were previously CrossTie-specific. One example given is for games such as The Elder Scrolls V:Skyrim Special Edition that used CrossTies to fix the audio.
CrossOver 25 is priced at $74 with 12 months of support, with CrossOver Life priced at $494.
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