Apple Game Porting Toolkit now helps developers port games from macOS to iOS

Last year, Apple introduced a new Game Porting Toolkit to help developers port their Windows games to macOS. Since then, some AAA games have made their way to the Mac, and it’s about to get even easier to port those games to iOS. The thing is, Game Porting Toolkit 2.0 not only works on Macs, but also on iPhones and iPads.

Apple’s Game Porting Toolkit

For those unfamiliar, Apple’s Game Porting Toolkit is capable of translating Windows games so that they natively work on macOS. Developers can use the tool to evaluate whether their games are worth porting to Mac, and then work to optimize the macOS version – this includes converting DirectX graphics to Metal. The SDK also helps developers utilize other built-in system features such as game controller support, spatial audio, and HDR video.

The SDK also helps developers utilize other built-in system features such as game controller support, spatial audio, and HDR video.

Game Porting Toolkit 2

With macOS Sequoia, Apple introduces Game Porting Toolkit 2 with a number of improvements and new options. For example, the new version provides better graphics performance and compatibility with more software. It also supports ray tracing on compatible hardware and includes the AVX2 instruction set.

But by far the biggest news here is that the Game Porting Toolkit now works with iOS 18 as well. In one of the WWDC 2024 sessions, the company talked about how developers can now use the Game Porting Toolkit to port a Windows game to macOS, and then port the macOS version to iPhone and iPad.

The Game Porting Toolkit is now available on the iPhone and iPad.

When a developer optimizes their game for macOS, it can be easily ported to iOS. This is because the SDK includes support for game controllers, audio, and graphics. For example, vibrations implemented for game controllers can easily be played with the Haptic Engine on the iPhone using the same API. This will certainly make Apple’s platforms more attractive to game developers, as they will be able to port their games to multiple devices with minimal effort.

So far, this will make Apple’s platforms more attractive to game developers, as they will be able to port their games to multiple devices with minimal effort.

Game Porting Toolkit 2 is already available as a beta version for developers.