If Microsoft buys Blizzard, will WoW still be made for Mac’s or will it be Windows exclusive? I don’t want to drop 3 grand on a new laptop only for it not to be able to play WoW.
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I don’t think anyone can make any guarantees at this point.
Microsoft doesn’t do Mac games, but there’s no indication they’re overhauling the development department in Activision-Blizzard either. Everything published so far indicates AB will become a wholly-owned subsidiary, not chipped up and distributed throughout the rest of Microsoft Games, which means they would still have their Mac development teams.
But there’s no being sure it can continue that way.
I don’t personally recall, but does anyone else remember how other Microsoft Games acquisitions fared? Did they keep their development and product lines intact?
I think it might depend on why Microsoft bought them. Who approached who and what numbers were written on that piece of paper that got slid across the table kinda matter.
If Microsoft got a good deal and had some spare change under the couch cushions they might have shrugged and said “why not?”
If Bethesda’s future releases are any indication, most of the ATVI future franchise releases are likely going to be made XB/Windows exclusive. I’m really hoping this riles the FTC/EU regulators enough to get it to fall through. Humongous acquisitions like this do no good for the consumer. The huge shift toward anti-trust across all industries in the last ten years should be a wake up call that things aren’t exactly kosher in the tech world.
@OP: It’s kind of a crapshoot at this point being that WoW’s ARM client really only happened because Blizzard’s been toying with Windnows’ ARM64 builds as that version of their operating system gains momentum due to the insane efficiency of the ARM platform. The tipping point could be Apple’s attitude toward every developer but itself, which is to say they aren’t forthcoming and certainly aren’t going to help outside companies develop properly. You can see this with Bombich Software’s Carbon Copy Cloner - they basically had to go it alone and figure out all of the quirks and inadequacies with the APFS platform. And it’s far, far worse for game developers, especially once you factor in the yearly abandonment of major OS versions.
I’d honestly be surprised if macOS support lasted past the next expansion.
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I remember when Bungie was a pillar of Mac game development. I had a friend who would spend hours playing a game called Marathon on his Mac after work. When Bungie announced a successor to those early first person shooters, my friend was super hyped for the upcoming title called Halo.
Then Microsoft bought Bungie. My friend was very disappointed when Halo was released as an X-Box exclusive. They did release a Mac version a few years later, but it was their last title for Mac.
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Given the abysmal Mac support this expansion, I’d say the Mac version is likely going away very soon.
Microsoft’s acquisitions in the past resulted in PC/XBOX exclusive titles. They literally killed all Mac projects at Bungie and they were one of the few game developers actually developing titles on the Mac. Halo would have likely been a Mac compatible game before they were bought by Microsoft.
So if the writing on the wall isn’t blatantly obvious… purchase a new Mac for playing WoW at your own peril.
Like Tiapriestess said… even if they did support the next expansion, the one following it is highly unlikely.
They literally have no Mac support team anymore.
I’m hoping, but probably against hope, that M$'s Games division will be as wise financially as their Office outfit is, and continue to cash in on Mac users.
If macOS support does extend to 10.0, at least that will help me to justify the purchase of a 27-inch (or will it be larger?) M iMac. Sadly, I foresee the time when I will suffer the constant need to take a shower that comes with using a Mac for most things but having to have a Windows machine for one, crucial app — as I did in the sad days of Windows ME, when the OBD II diagnostic software I used for monitoring my older son’s early solo driving performance would run only under Windoze. At least I didn’t have to pay for a decent graphics card, or worry about the availability of them, back then.
I don’t see myself switching to Windows just for WoW. I use Windows for only two apps, Quickbooks and Planswift. Both run fine via Parallels. Everything else I do is on MacOS.
With new Macs on the horizon, I will have some interesting choices to consider. However, If the state of WoW doesn’t improve, my decisions become a lot easier.
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I’m definitely concerned about this myself. Back in 2005, Blizzard games were some of the very few games available to Mac users, and great games at that. That’s why I played them then and came back to play them a few years ago.
Not only am I worried about Mac support in general, but most of the times I love something made by a small indie company, after Microsoft or a similar company purchases the app or the smaller company, they ruin all the things I liked about the app. Granted, Blizzard is not a small indie company despite the common phrase thrown around the forums, but there is still concern there.
Although there are some major issues that tend to be ignored for our platform, and the support that is there isn’t as good as it could be, Blizzard games generally run a LOT better than the majority of other games I’ve played that are made for Mac, so I hope that will continue, and even improve in the future.
Ironically I used to game almost entirely in macOS. Now only two games are used there, and one of those I can just do in Windows as it doesn’t require a super precise acceleration curve (Diablo 3). WoW, however, has no focus lock in the Windows version like Rommax put in for me and players like me in the macOS version (retail at least - not sure if hte classic version has the focus lock hack). If I had a focus lock on the Windows side then the only thing I’d need macOS for is easier emulator usage (OpenEmu) and DVD playing from the rips I made to my 10 TB data drive.
Now most of my gaming is done on Windows because the games aren’t on macOS. And since I’m a huge Tales Of fan and love Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night (I have 600 hours logged according to Steam!), I spend most of my time on the Dark Side™ now. So much so that I’m actively considering not making my 9900k system into a hackintosh, but instead going with just Windows so I can have as much storage for games as possible.
The one thing holding me back from making that final leap is WoW. That focus lock is essential to the requirements I have to deal with my deformed arm. You wouldn’t think one tiny feature could be so important, but it is, and I’m still seething at Microsoft for removing exclusive fullscreen mode from DX12 and not putting in a way to force a focus lock on an app to prevent something else from stealing focus and breaking input control. As such, I really hope macOS gets support for a while longer. If not, I either suffer intermittent loss of control in Windows or give up on WoW entirely.
So nice to see someone speak of Marathon. I loved those games. I played 2 the most. Myth the Fallen Lords and Myth 2 Soulblighter are still my all time favourites game. I’m still sour MS made Bungie sell the rights at the time.
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It would be unfortunate if Mac support were dropped, because it’s getting pretty decent on the latest models of Macs. After not playing much for a few months I tried firing WoW up on my work laptop (16” MBP M1 Pro) while visiting family over the holidays and it ran great, probably about as well as on a Windows machine with a 2060 or 2070, and it didn’t turn the machine into a wind tunnel to do it.
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I really hope I’ll be able to play wow on Mac. There’s no way I’m ever using a PC.
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I researched this last night and according to https://www.applegamingwiki.com/wiki/M1_compatible_games_master_list WOW is perfectly playable in Parallels. At what graphics settings? I’m not sure. On my i5 mini I had to put graphics at 2, but they didn’t look too bad. I imagine on an M1(pro/max) this would be much better.
For what it’s worth:
“Activision Blizzard games are enjoyed on a variety of platforms and we plan to continue to support those communities moving forward.”–Phil Spencer, CEO, Microsoft Gaming • Jan 18, 2022, article entitled " Welcoming the Incredible Teams and Legendary Franchises of Activision Blizzard to Microsoft Gaming" on the XBOX Wire web page.
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I still have my Marathon Trilogy CD for OS 9. I miss my old PowerMac 7500 (in an 8500 chassis!) I used to play it on. So smooth on the G3/210 card I was given as a gift.
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For what that’s worth…They pretty much say that about existing games with bethesda too. That statement is very broad and leaves out “current” or “future” all together. It also doesn’t consider timed exclusives. they can still “support” other platforms giving them ports 6 months or 12 months after timed exclusive on MS platforms.
However, MS or not, blizzards mac support is all but gone anyways outside of gains that already had it and those are in bare minimum maintenance mode. The second fixing one of them requires a large amount of work it’ll be killed. I bet the second apple drops rosetta, diablo 3, hearthstone, and heroes of storm are done. WoW will stick around longer but will likely continue to be buggy with wait times of months for things to get addressed even if it’s something simple like not being able to login on M1 macs.
I do want to add again though that it isn’t a dev problem, it’s a leadership one that cut mac development time down to next to nothing.
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For what its worth, Minecraft says ‘Hi’ - but your are right that there are no guarantees.
Minecraft is a bit different for technical reasons. Java Edition is multiplatform because that’s Java’s role in the tech universe. Bedrock Edition is multiplatform on purpose (consoles and tablets and computers) and that’s the reason it even exists.
WoW never had explicit multiplatform goals. Otherwise they might have expanded beyond just two OSs on two microprocessor architectures.
Microsoft wants their games on as many platforms as possible; there’s a reason that they worked to get their cloud gaming on iOS, to the point that they made it a web app. They won’t take anything away from macOS, and if anything they might encourage better cross-platform support to keep those subscriptions growing.
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