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 | Reported | 1 report |
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
Doesn't start in one report on an M1. Its MultiLauncher.exe asks for the .NET Framework to be enabled, though .NET 4.8 is installed in the environment. It's a 32-bit game.
Known issues
MultiLauncher.exe says the .NET Framework must be enabled from Windows Features, with .NET 4.8 installed
What helps none in Highball yet. Winetricks has a dotnet35 verb, untested with this game. The CLI's 'highball tricks' runs winetricks verbs but doesn't give winetricks the app's cabextract, which dotnet35 needs, so it most likely stops there
Why not diagnosed. PCGamingWiki says the game needs .NET Framework 3.5, which .NET 4.8 doesn't provide, so the launcher most likely wants 3.5 (inferred, not checked here)
Provenance
Reported by udance4ever (highball-db#941, 2026-11-03), Apple M1, macOS 27.2, Highball 0.10.24, engine x64-sikarugir10.0_6-r29, D3DMetal, rated 1 of 5 after 4 minutes: DirectX installs, then MultiLauncher.exe says the .NET Framework must be enabled in Windows Features, with the dotnet48 recipe installed. Not verified by the maintainer. udance4ever offered on highball-db#941 (2026-11-03) to install .NET 3.5 with winetricks' dotnet35 verb; not tried yet.
Before installing anything, it is worth checking whether the game already ships a native Mac build.
Common questions
Does Watchmen: The End is Nigh work on Mac?
Watchmen: The End is Nigh 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 Watchmen: The End is Nigh 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.