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
Anti-cheat: Easy Anti-Cheat. The game refuses to start without the anti-cheat's kernel driver, which cannot run under Wine on macOS, so no mode or engine changes this. The reporter saw the anti-cheat block on an M5.
Provenance
Are We Anti-Cheat Yet? (MIT), kernel anti-cheat vendor; reported blocked at launch by detnarrrrrrrrr (highball#104, 2026-09-15, Apple M5, macOS 26.6.2, Highball 0.9.15)
Common questions
Does Dead by Daylight work on Mac?
No. Dead by Daylight 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 Dead by Daylight 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
This page is generated from an open database. If you have run Dead by Daylight 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.