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Valve dropped Counter-Strike 2 support on macOS and older hardware

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With the release of Counter-Strike 2, it seems Valve are continuing to move away from macOS support just like they did with SteamVR. Thankfully, Valve are still investing in Linux and CS2 is supported on Linux.

It was a little odd to see the Steam page remove mentions of macOS when CS2 launched, and now it has been confirmed via their support post that older hardware and macOS support is ending. As they said:

As technology advances, we have made the difficult decision to discontinue support for older hardware, including DirectX 9 and 32-bit operating systems. Similarly, we will no longer support macOS. Combined, these represented less than one percent of active CS:GO players.

Moving forward, Counter-Strike 2 will exclusively support 64-bit Windows and Linux.

Not really that surprising is it? Apple does make things more difficult with the Metal graphics API and their newer processors, and since as Valve said the player-base really was tiny Valve's time is better spent elsewhere. Does make me curious on what the Linux player count is though, but Valve aren't likely to drop Linux considering their continued investments across Steam Deck, SteamOS, Proton, graphics drivers, Linux kernel work and more.

They're also offering refunds on the Prime Status upgrade if the purchase was made between the announcement of the Counter-Strike 2 Limited Test (March 22, 2023) and the launch of Counter-Strike 2 (September 27, 2023) if you're affected by it up until December 1st, 2023. Valve put up a legacy CS:GO version for now but support for that will end January 1st, 2024.

Perhaps some macOS users may want to give Linux a try…

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: FPS, Steam, Valve
19 Likes
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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22 comments
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ssj17vegeta Oct 11, 2023
Apple really goes out of their way to make things difficult for game developers. Seems like a sensible move.
Ehvis Oct 11, 2023
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Could it be Valve saying to Apple to "support Vulkan or get left behind"?
devland Oct 11, 2023
MacOS, iOS & Safari are the modern equivalent for Internet Explorer 6.

"Everybody" uses them yet nobody wants to support them.

The weird thing in all of this is that Apple contributed to the development of many of the standards they are no longer upholding.
M@GOid Oct 11, 2023
AFAIK Apple started the Metal API more or less the same time AMD released their Mantle API. When Vulkan appeared, they had already invested a lot in Metal, so they made the call to continue that path.

Now, was it the right move? If you look at their revenue from Apple store, looks like they did. But I had the feeling that is iPhone related. My impression is that their desktop stuff don't look any better than before, although they continue to get some support from a couple big names.

The recent release of a Apple's "Proton" indicates that things are not rosy, meaning Metal adoption is not in the levels they wanted it to be.

I had the feeling that while Tim Cook is in charge, things will remain the same. But I wouldn't be surprised if the next CEO, in a effort to boost profits, starts to drop anything that is proprietary in exchange for industry standards, like Chromium and Vulkan, to cut costs and make shareholders happy.
damarrin Oct 11, 2023
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Apple basically want developers to make software only for them and distribute it only through them. There are a lot of people who do that and thrive within their ecosystem. It's a tough sell for games, and I don't mean those free to play pay to win things phone stores are full of.
DamonLinuxPL Oct 11, 2023
Well they also make cs2 unplayable for many Linux players. Game just crashing at launch without any clear indications.
Similar with dota2 after migrating to sdl3. In Dota most of people was affected by #
"Wayland bug" but even after fixing it, there is some people that can't play at all because game crashing or gives illegally instructions at launch.
CatKiller Oct 11, 2023
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QuotePerhaps some macOS users may want to give Linux a try…

I suggested to a Mac user that they get a Deck for their gaming needs; they did, and it seems to have gone well: they're now recommending the Deck to other Mac gamers. So, yeah...
Termy Oct 11, 2023
As Apple is insisting on using their proprietary stuff only and thus making life unnecessarily difficult for developers, this is a fully understandable step.
And unlike with Linux, macOS neither as the potential to gain significant % in the gaming market nor does it offer any real benefit/safeguard for Valve as Linux does.

Quoting: M@GOidAFAIK Apple started the Metal API more or less the same time AMD released their Mantle API. When Vulkan appeared, they had already invested a lot in Metal, so they made the call to continue that path.

Nobody stops them from implementing Vulkan, too though. It's not an either-or, so Apples insistence on "Metal only" is nothing but purely political.


Last edited by Termy on 11 October 2023 at 1:56 pm UTC
ThatOneGuy Oct 11, 2023
Has anyone here actually been able to run the legacy version of CSGO that they put up?
I tried putting the game on the csgo_legacy branch, but it doesn't seem to work for me for whatever reason, it just always launches CS2 instead.


Last edited by ThatOneGuy on 11 October 2023 at 3:05 pm UTC
mphuZ Oct 11, 2023
Everything has been going to this for a long time. From 2025, can we expect the complete cessation of Steam support on mac OS? Perhaps Apple itself will help in this.
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