Highball
What actually works instead
Cloud streaming runs the real Windows build on someone else's machine, so the anti-cheat is satisfied. GeForce NOW has a native Mac app and Xbox Cloud Gaming runs in a browser; both publish the games they carry. And before assuming you need any of this, check whether the game already has a native Mac build — a native build beats translation every time.
Notes
Does not start, NCGuard, the game's anti-cheat, stops it. With msync NCGuard exits about 8 seconds in with 0xE0000015 on a fresh environment (2 of 2 tries). With sync off NCGuard finishes its setup, then the game spins on its splash screen at about 157% CPU for over seven minutes without loading anything (3 of 3). With esync Steam crashes before the game starts (1 of 1).
Provenance
Tested by krptg0 (highball#315, 2026-10-10), Apple M2 Pro, macOS 26.6.2, Highball 0.10.10, engine x64-sikarugir10.0_6-r21, D3DMetal, in all three sync modes. Not verified by the maintainer.
Common questions
Does AION 2 work on Mac?
No. AION 2 uses kernel-level anti-cheat, which needs a Windows kernel driver. Compatibility layers such as Highball, CrossOver and Whisky run entirely in user space, so there is nothing for that driver to load into, and virtual machines have the same limit. Cloud streaming runs the real Windows build remotely, which is why it works.
Can I play AION 2 on Mac with CrossOver or Parallels?
No. The same limit applies to every compatibility layer and to virtual machines: the anti-cheat driver cannot load. Streaming is the only route.
Contribute a result
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