For years now, one of the aspects where PC users always were ahead of those of us with Macs was gaming. Franchises that many players around the world enjoyed on their gaming consoles were usually available only on PC, with Mac gamers left behind.
Steam for Mac provides over 3500 games available to purchase, download, and play from any computer. Check out the new releases, indie hits, casual favorites and everything in between. Find someone to play with, meet up with friends, connect with. Games like Warcraft, The Lost Vikings, and Diablo are available on the platform. To sum up, Blizzard is not an all-encompassing Steam alternative as it only offers games from Activision and Blizzard studios. However, if you love playing games from these studios then Blizzard is a great platform to buy digital licenses for your favorite games. Steam gaming service on Mac, available April Valve announced today it will bring Steam, Valve's gaming service, and Source, Valve's gaming engine, to the Mac. Steam and Valve's library of games including Left 4 Dead 2, Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike, Portal, and the Half-Life series will be available in April. For the remainder of 2018 Steam will continue to run and to launch games on these versions, but other functionality in Steam will be somewhat limited. For example, new features such as the new Steam Chat will not be available. We encourage all users on these operating systems to upgrade to newer versions of macOS in order to have ongoing access.
Nowadays though, thanks to Steam on OS X, Mac users can enjoy a lot more variety of choice when it comes to game releases. And even while the Mac Steam library is not as big as the one for PC, being able to access Steam on your Mac opens up a ton of possibilities.
So if you have ever wanted to give Steam a try on your Mac, read along.
What is Steam?
Play On Mac Steam
Long story short: Think of Steam as an independent App Store (requires a free account) but exclusively for games. The application helps users download and install their games on their computers, as well as offering a multiplayer and a social networking platform for players to interact.
Are You Ready?
The very basics you need to start gaming on Steam is to create a free account and download their native app.
There are some basic system requirements for running the Steam app, but you should be ok unless you have a very old Mac model.
Important Note: Note that the system requirements for running the Steam app are completely different than the ones for running games. So make sure to check the requirements for each game before jumping in.Once you have the app on your Mac, open it to browse the different games available.
One of the great things about Steam is that it provides demos of most games for you to try before buying. Additionally, Steam is known for its constant sales, allowing you to get some great releases usually at lower prices than on consoles.
Once you find a game you are interested in on the Mac section of Steam (not all games are available on Mac sadly), make sure to check its minimum system requirements at the bottom of the game's page of before downloading it.
Cool Tip: If you like to hunt for game sales on Steam, then you can check IsThereAnyDeal and CheapShark, two sites that constantly monitor and showcase the latest Steam sales and deals.Perfect Control
Mac os sierra download windows 10. One of the best aspects of using Steam to play on your Mac is that it allows you to use game controllers. And the good news is that if you have a game console, its controller will likely work with Steam.
For example, if you have a PS3 or PS4 controller, you can easily use those to play Steam games, which makes the experience a lot better than merely using your keyboard.
Is Steam Available On Macbook
In the case of a PS3 controller, all you need to do is start Steam and then press and hold the PS3 controller's PS button. After a while Steam will take over and the app will become full screen and take you its controller interface.
There you will be able to use your controller to navigate around all of Steam, including the shop and other media options.
And of course, you will be able to play games with the controller as well.
And there you go. If you never tried Steam and are into gaming, then use this guide and give the platform a try. It is a great way to play games on your Mac.
The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.Also See#games
Did You Know
Pokemon Go was installed on more than 5% of Android devices worldwide within three days of release.
Is Steam Available On Mac Catalina
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- TAJB 21 Feb 2017 10:38:43 1,221 posts
Seen 3 years ago
Registered 6 years agoI've trawled the internet and found no fix for my issue with steam on my Mac. Anyone got any ideas? Get a PC is not a fix unfortunately.
Whenever I try to open steam all that happens is the steam icon bounces on the bottom of the screen indefinitely. I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling Steam but for some reason I get the same issue every time. Any ideas? - neems 21 Feb 2017 10:53:55 5,153 posts
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Registered 12 years ago - TAJB 21 Feb 2017 10:59:49 1,221 posts
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Registered 6 years agoSearched and searched and I can't find a solution. - Phattso 21 Feb 2017 11:00:41 26,311 posts
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Registered 17 years agoWhen this happened to me I found a forum post somewhere that listed which files in the Steam install location to delete. It forces it to rebuild them which then often cures the issue. The Mac client is a shonky abomination sadly. - Phattso 21 Feb 2017 11:06:00 26,311 posts
Seen 2 hours ago
Registered 17 years agoTry this: 'Go to Finder. Then Library. Then App Support. Then Steam. Mov registry.vdf to trash. Reopen steam.'
Another thing: when you reinstalled did you restart your Mac between uninstalling and reinstalling? I've had issues with some Steam service not getting terminated which causes problems. It's rare. Maybe three times in six years. I've had Steam refuse to start on my Windows machine twice in the last year mind. Might have too many games. - funkstar 21 Feb 2017 11:41:12 3,280 posts
Seen 45 seconds ago
Registered 15 years agoquick way to get to library if you didnt know - open finder window, click the 'go' menu, hold the alt/options key and library will pop up in the list of locations - Phattso 21 Feb 2017 11:42:41 26,311 posts
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Registered 17 years agoYes, sorry. My Macs are permanently in dev mode so no hidden folders - THFourteen 21 Feb 2017 11:43:04 53,839 posts
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Registered 15 years ago - TAJB 21 Feb 2017 12:05:08 1,221 posts
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Registered 6 years agoPhattso wrote:
I did try this but I couldn't find the folder. Maybe I'm doing something wrong?
Try this: 'Go to Finder. Then Library. Then App Support. Then Steam. Mov registry.vdf to trash. Reopen steam.' - y2rich 21 Feb 2017 14:07:03 3,501 posts
Seen 1 month ago
Registered 14 years agoDidn't Steam drop support for older versions of the MacOS a while ago? If you're not on the latest that may be the issue - TAJB 21 Feb 2017 16:56:07 1,221 posts
Seen 3 years ago
Registered 6 years agoI'm still on OSX Mavericks I think but can't be certain. All I know is that they want me to install the latest update and make all of my current apps incompatible with the new OS
Edited by TAJB at 16:56:17 21-02-2017 - Zerobob 21 Feb 2017 17:46:42 2,673 posts
Seen 14 minutes ago
Registered 11 years agoTAJB wrote:
Click on the Apple icon (top menu) > ' About This Mac' and it'll tell you your OS version. An old version of macOS could definitely be causing your Steam issue.
I'm still on OSX Mavericks I think but can't be certain. All I know is that they want me to install the latest update and make all of my current apps incompatible with the new OS - TAJB 23 Feb 2017 00:14:13 1,221 posts
Seen 3 years ago
Registered 6 years agoI'm running OSX 10.9.5 It doesn't seem too old. Should I update? Would this be causing the issue? - Beetroot_Bertie 23 Feb 2017 00:45:52 523 posts
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Registered 13 years ago@TAJB The folder should be in the Library folder within your user directory:
Macintosh HD > Users > Your Username ƒ > Library > Application Support > Steam
If you were using the 'Go to Folder' command in the finder menu it would be: ~YourUsername/Library/Application Support/Steam - TAJB 23 Feb 2017 08:51:15 1,221 posts
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Registered 6 years agoSo I just searched my steam folder and found no Registry.vdf file to delete. Any suggestions? - Phattso 23 Feb 2017 08:53:18 26,311 posts
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Registered 17 years agoDeleting the /appcache directory has been known to work for some (on Windows as well as Mac). Or just move it if you don't want to risk deleting it outright. - Phattso 23 Feb 2017 08:54:01 26,311 posts
Seen 2 hours ago
Registered 17 years agoThe 'registry.vdf' file will be in the root of the Steam directory, so if you can't see it it ain't there (most likely because you have a fresh install). - Beetroot_Bertie 23 Feb 2017 10:45:39 523 posts
Seen 4 minutes ago
Registered 13 years ago@TAJB It might be a permissions issue. Open up Disk Utility (in the Utilities folder which is in the main Applications folder), select your hard drive on the left and click the 'Repair Disk Permissions'. It might pay to reboot after that but I'm not sure.
You could also try resetting the PRAM by restarting/starting up whilst holding down the CMD, ALT, P, R keys. Keep them pressed until the Mac does the start up 'bong' another time. - TAJB 23 Feb 2017 11:18:12 1,221 posts
Seen 3 years ago
Registered 6 years agoSo i deleted App Cache and Registry.vdf after fixing permissions with Disk utility and I'm still having exactly the same issue. Nothing seems to be working and now when I check finder the folder directory can't be found even though I was just there? - Phattso 23 Feb 2017 11:44:21 26,311 posts
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Registered 17 years agoJust to confirm - this is only happening with Steam, right? All your other usual apps are working as expected? - nickthegun 23 Feb 2017 11:46:11 83,819 posts
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Registered 15 years agoDownload an uninstaller from the app store (one that gets rid of *everything*) and then reinstall it. - Phattso 23 Feb 2017 11:47:22 26,311 posts
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Registered 17 years agoOh, here's a silly question: it hasn't opened in another desktop space has it? It should switch to the space when you click on the icon, but I'm in clutching at straws territory now.
Another question: you said you'd reinstalled steam, but as you didn't have permission to see the files mentioned above I'm assuming you didn't try deleting the directory first? Kill the WHOLE directory. Restart. Then install Steam.
We're sort of into head scratch territory now. - Beetroot_Bertie 23 Feb 2017 17:26:58 523 posts
Seen 4 minutes ago
Registered 13 years agoDunno if it will help but maybe delete the 'com.valvesoftware.steamclean.plist' from the Launch Agents folder in your user Library.
Another thing to try might be to create another user account (on your Mac) and see if the problem still occurs when logged in with that one.
Edited by Beetroot_Bertie at 13:06:19 24-02-2017 - TAJB 24 Feb 2017 12:16:15 1,221 posts
Seen 3 years ago
Registered 6 years agoSo I deleted the entire registry and reinstalled and I'm still having exactly the same issue. It hasn't opened anywhere else and when I right click and select show all windows it shows that there are no open windows for Steam. Completely dumbfounded. - Dirtbox 24 Feb 2017 12:40:45 91,604 posts
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Registered 18 years ago - Fake_Blood 24 Feb 2017 12:42:47 10,700 posts
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Registered 11 years ago - Phattso 24 Feb 2017 12:52:54 26,311 posts
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Registered 17 years agoYeah I saw that when I googled but the dude isn't getting any message, just no startup. - Dirtbox 24 Feb 2017 12:54:36 91,604 posts
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Registered 18 years ago - Quickonemate 30 Jul 2017 09:26:36 2 posts
Seen 3 years ago
Registered 3 years agoHey man i was having the same issue, i had to update to sierra. ill run you through how to download keep in mind it will take awhile (couple of hours) so go to Appstore on computer, search up macOS sierra then click download. then after the download has complete you should be able to run steam again. hope this helped. - Quickonemate 30 Jul 2017 09:28:48 2 posts
Seen 3 years ago
Registered 3 years agoif your have trouble finding the link her it is
https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/macos-sierra/id1127487414?mt=12
Edited by Quickonemate at 09:29:22 30-07-2017
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