Highball
Which renderer to use
Highball can run each game through three different Direct3D translation layers. This is what the database knows for this title — empty rows are open questions, not failures.
| Renderer | Verdict | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| DXVKDirect3D 9-11 over Vulkan | Untested | no report yet — send one |
| DXMTDirect3D 11 over Metal | Untested | no report yet — send one |
| D3DMetalApple's Game Porting Toolkit | Untested | no report yet — send one |
No dated Highball run yet. When one lands it records the renderer, the engine build and the macOS version it was seen on — which is what stops a verdict quietly rotting. Send one.
Notes
Steam starts Launcher.exe. The launcher forwards its own command line to AoK HD.exe. After OK on Validating Subscriptions, the game opens resources/_common/movies/aoeiihd_x2.wmv and the process ends at the log line "Opening video...". With SKIPINTRO the same log says "Skipping due to commandline" and the main menu is created. Highball passes SKIPINTRO on Play. A match was not played, and Wine's own Direct3D was not tried.
Provenance
Measured here 2026-10-06, Apple M3 Pro, macOS 26.7.1, engine x64-sikarugir10.0_6-r22, bottle renderer DXMT (Direct3D 9 through DXVK). The main menu was created with SKIPINTRO. A match was not played.
Before installing anything, it is worth checking whether the game already ships a native Mac build.
Common questions
Does Age of Empires II (2013) work on Mac?
Age of Empires II (2013) has no native Mac build, but it is reported to run on Apple Silicon through Highball, a free open-source compatibility layer. This comes from community reports rather than a Highball test run, so treat it as a reasonable expectation rather than a guarantee.
Contribute a result
This page is generated from an open database. If you have run Age of Empires II (2013) on Apple Silicon, working or not, a report takes a minute and fills in the empty rows above. Send a report, or read how the data is put together.