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It's ironic that Apple devoted a chunk of its WWDC keynote on gaming on the Mac. I’m not a gamer but apparently Resident Evil Village is coming to the Mac and f

It's ironic that Apple devoted a chunk of its WWDC keynote on gaming on the Mac. I’m not a gamer but apparently Resident Evil Village is coming to the Mac and folks are excited about that [1]. It's not that Apple doesn't want games on macOS—they do. Now that nearly their entire product line is running on Apple Silicon with their GPUs, Metal is the best way to write game code that can run on Macs, iPads and iPhones. From their press release [2]: Metal 3 — the latest version of Apple’s graphics framework — comes with new features that enable game developers to tap into the power of Apple silicon for even greater gaming performance. MetalFX Upscaling enables developers to quickly render complex scenes by using less compute-intensive frames, and then apply high-quality spatial upscaling and temporal anti-aliasing. The result is accelerated performance that makes games feel more responsive and graphics that look stunning. Game developers also benefit from a new Fast Resource Loading API that minimizes wait time by providing a more direct path from storage to the GPU, so games can easily access high-quality textures and geometry needed to create expansive worlds for realistic and immersive gameplay. Game developers that integrate with Game Center can now add Activity views into the dashboard, making it possible for their users to see which games their friends are playing and their high scores. And with SharePlay support, it’s easier than ever for users to play together in real time. [1]: https://youtu.be/q5D55G7Ejs8?t=4867 https://youtu.be/q5D55G7Ejs8?t=4867 [2]: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2022/06/apple-provides-developers-with-even-more-powerful-technologies/ https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2022/06/apple-provides-develo...

smoldesu 4y ago
> Metal is the best way to write game code that can run on Macs, iPads and iPhones. This is true: but Apple also shot themselves in the foot here. My understanding is that Apple Silicon GPU cores are designed differently from traditional PC/console hardware, and closer resembles a phone's instruction pipeline. So, yes, Metal will inherantly optimize for it better, but Apple also deliberately chose to go in the opposite direction of the gaming industry. Expecting developers to drop everything to optimize for a platform that will represent a fraction of their sales (minus 30% of course) is pretty unreasonable, and I think Apple knows this (and concedes here). Metal is not made for meticulously optimized gaming releases, it's a high-level interface designed for mobile-first applications.
- nojito 4y ago
  Apple has just started designing GPUs. Who knows if they are able to make massive leaps in the GPU space like they did in the CPU space.
  - smoldesu 4y ago
    Apple's GPUs are great, at least on the cheaper products. The M1's GPU provides 1050-like performance in a 9w power envelope, which is pretty damn impressive. But the last 30 years of PC gaming hasn't been optimized for ARM and tile-shading. And likely, anything in the near future targeting PC or home console isn't either. So, whether or not Apple's hardware is up to the task is irrelevant: their architecture and software stack isn't ready for cross-platform development. Apple dug their moat, now everyone has to deal with it.
- haswell 4y ago
  > Expecting developers to drop everything to optimize for a platform that will represent a fraction of their sales (minus 30% of course) is pretty unreasonable The same thing has been said about Apple over and over throughout the years. Apple plays the long game. If they want to get more involved in gaming, it's built into their roadmap, and we'll see it manifest itself in the coming years. I don't think macOS market share is the right fraction to look at. As iOS and iPadOS continue to evolve, they will continue to eat the PC market, and more and more games will be released mobile-first. Building for those devices is far more lucrative. I personally think the Apple TV is the dark horse here. All Apple needs to do is release a next-gen Apple TV that has enough horsepower to run current-gen games, and suddenly Apple is competing in the console market. Investing the time to optimize for Metal will give devs access to far more than just the Mac market.
  - smoldesu 4y ago
    > The same thing has been said about Apple over and over throughout the years. And it hasn't really been wrong? Try booting up any Mac game from the 2010s on Apple Silicon; there's a 90% chance it depends on a 32-bit library Apple won't give you anymore. MacOS just hasn't proven to be a great platform for game development, and that's fuelled by Apple's constant desire for constant architectural reform and perpetual yak-shaving. That's fine, and it works well for some applications, but it makes for a pretty lousy target for gamedev. Apple plays with their cards held to their chest, so I agree with you that they're playing the long game. They already own the casual gaming market (and profit handsomely from it), and they seem perfectly satisfied to ignore everything else. Long-term though, I don't see how Apple can make any of their devices attractive gaming consoles without bringing a legacy of PC/console titles with it. I guess all that remains to be seen, though. > I personally think the Apple TV is the dark horse here. All Apple needs to do is release a next-gen Apple TV that has enough horsepower to run current-gen games, and suddenly Apple is competing in the console market. That's a fairly grounded argument, but I still don't see a carrot at the end of the stick for game developers here. Sure, casual games will be easy to port, and what few native MacOS titles remain will be easy enough too, but why would studios like EA or Ubisoft port their games? Why would indie productions with limited time dedicate resources to ensuring Metal compatibility? I see no appeal, and I bet Apple knows that it's a pretty raw deal too. It will be interesting to see if they respond to this. > Investing the time to optimize for Metal will give devs access to far more than just the Mac market. You're right, but all of this hinges on whether or not developers want to pay the Apple tax and deal with the constantly changing ecosystem. That comes at a cost, one that's greater than dumping a game on PC or releasing a title for a console. Maybe the scales are turning in Apple's favor, but the momentum of the current gaming ecosystem seems to not care.

smoldesu 4y ago

> Metal is the best way to write game code that can run on Macs, iPads and iPhones. This is true: but Apple also shot themselves in the foot here. My understanding is that Apple Silicon GPU cores are designed differently from traditional PC/console hardware, and closer resembles a phone's instruction pipeline. So, yes, Metal will inherantly optimize for it better, but Apple also deliberately chose to go in the opposite direction of the gaming industry. Expecting developers to drop everything to optimize for a platform that will represent a fraction of their sales (minus 30% of course) is pretty unreasonable, and I think Apple knows this (and concedes here). Metal is not made for meticulously optimized gaming releases, it's a high-level interface designed for mobile-first applications.

nojito 4y ago
Apple has just started designing GPUs. Who knows if they are able to make massive leaps in the GPU space like they did in the CPU space.
- smoldesu 4y ago
  Apple's GPUs are great, at least on the cheaper products. The M1's GPU provides 1050-like performance in a 9w power envelope, which is pretty damn impressive. But the last 30 years of PC gaming hasn't been optimized for ARM and tile-shading. And likely, anything in the near future targeting PC or home console isn't either. So, whether or not Apple's hardware is up to the task is irrelevant: their architecture and software stack isn't ready for cross-platform development. Apple dug their moat, now everyone has to deal with it.
haswell 4y ago
> Expecting developers to drop everything to optimize for a platform that will represent a fraction of their sales (minus 30% of course) is pretty unreasonable The same thing has been said about Apple over and over throughout the years. Apple plays the long game. If they want to get more involved in gaming, it's built into their roadmap, and we'll see it manifest itself in the coming years. I don't think macOS market share is the right fraction to look at. As iOS and iPadOS continue to evolve, they will continue to eat the PC market, and more and more games will be released mobile-first. Building for those devices is far more lucrative. I personally think the Apple TV is the dark horse here. All Apple needs to do is release a next-gen Apple TV that has enough horsepower to run current-gen games, and suddenly Apple is competing in the console market. Investing the time to optimize for Metal will give devs access to far more than just the Mac market.
- smoldesu 4y ago
  > The same thing has been said about Apple over and over throughout the years. And it hasn't really been wrong? Try booting up any Mac game from the 2010s on Apple Silicon; there's a 90% chance it depends on a 32-bit library Apple won't give you anymore. MacOS just hasn't proven to be a great platform for game development, and that's fuelled by Apple's constant desire for constant architectural reform and perpetual yak-shaving. That's fine, and it works well for some applications, but it makes for a pretty lousy target for gamedev. Apple plays with their cards held to their chest, so I agree with you that they're playing the long game. They already own the casual gaming market (and profit handsomely from it), and they seem perfectly satisfied to ignore everything else. Long-term though, I don't see how Apple can make any of their devices attractive gaming consoles without bringing a legacy of PC/console titles with it. I guess all that remains to be seen, though. > I personally think the Apple TV is the dark horse here. All Apple needs to do is release a next-gen Apple TV that has enough horsepower to run current-gen games, and suddenly Apple is competing in the console market. That's a fairly grounded argument, but I still don't see a carrot at the end of the stick for game developers here. Sure, casual games will be easy to port, and what few native MacOS titles remain will be easy enough too, but why would studios like EA or Ubisoft port their games? Why would indie productions with limited time dedicate resources to ensuring Metal compatibility? I see no appeal, and I bet Apple knows that it's a pretty raw deal too. It will be interesting to see if they respond to this. > Investing the time to optimize for Metal will give devs access to far more than just the Mac market. You're right, but all of this hinges on whether or not developers want to pay the Apple tax and deal with the constantly changing ecosystem. That comes at a cost, one that's greater than dumping a game on PC or releasing a title for a console. Maybe the scales are turning in Apple's favor, but the momentum of the current gaming ecosystem seems to not care.