Valve confirms no plans to release Counter-Strike 2 for macOS, citing low user base

Valve officially launched CS2, but has cut support for macOS. It says the game will only run on 64-bit Windows and Linux as older platforms, DX9 and 32-bit systems make up less than 1% of players.

Omer Dursun Neowin · Oct 10, 2023 14:48 EDT with 17 comments

After months of private testing, Valve officially launched Counter-Strike 2 on Steam last week. However, the newly updated game only supports Windows and Linux, leaving macOS behind. In a blow to Mac users, Valve has confirmed that it has no plans to release the Counter-Strike 2 on the macOS.

In a Steam support FAQ, the company stated it is discontinuing support for older hardware, including DirectX 9 and 32-bit operating systems. As part of this move, the company will no longer support macOS.

According to Valve, combined DirectX 9, 32-bit, and macOS systems accounted for less than 1% of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive's active players. As a result, Counter-Strike 2 will only support 64-bit versions of Windows and Linux.

As technology advances, we have made the difficult decision to discontinue support for older hardware, including DirectX 9 and 32-bit operating systems. Similarly, we will no longer support macOS. Combined, these represented less than one percent of active CS:GO players.

This statement comes after a 26GB update for CS:GO rendered the game unplayable on macOS systems. While Valve offers refunds for Mac users' Prime Status upgrades, it signals the end of official support and development for one of gaming's most enduring franchises on Apple devices.

Despite launching in 2012, CS:GO remains hugely popular, with tens of millions of players each month. Valve's macOS cutoff could disappoint hundreds of players, even at less than 1% of the total user base.

In case you missed it, here are the Counter-Strike 2 features;

All-new CS Ratings with the updated Premier mode

Global and Regional leaderboards

Upgraded and overhauled maps

Game-changing dynamic smoke grenades

Tick-rate-independent gameplay

Redesigned visual effects and audio

All items from CS:GO moving forward to CS2

Behind the scenes, Apple's lack of native Vulkan graphics API support is a challenge. While the open-source MoltenVK library brings Vulkan to Mac, it is missing some advanced features required by Counter-Strike 2.