I’ve always been a sucker for deep-sea exploration games, and Subnautica hooked me hard the first time I played it. If you’re wondering whether it runs on Mac – yes, it does. And there are a few other ways to play it too. I tested them all so you don’t have to.
Can You Play Subnautica on Mac?
Yes, you absolutely can play Subnautica on a Mac. In fact, there’s a native macOS version available directly through Steam, so if you’ve got a decent machine, you can just download it and jump in. That alone is a nice surprise, considering how many games still skip over macOS entirely. But that’s not the whole story.
In addition to native support, I went hands-on with a few cloud gaming options – just to see how far you can push things if your Mac isn’t exactly a gaming beast. Here’s what I found.
- Boosteroid was the easiest to get going. Seriously, a couple of clicks and I was underwater. It doesn’t need a crazy-fast connection, and it even supports 4K if that’s your thing. Best value overall, in my opinion.
- GeForce NOW (GFN) felt just as snappy, with the bonus of having tons of server locations – which helps with lag. The pricing’s a bit steeper, and you’ll want a solid internet connection, but it performs great.
- Xbox Cloud Gaming (xCloud) worked too – Game Pass Ultimate is required, but you get a bunch of other games bundled in. No 4K or keyboard/mouse support, but if you’re on a budget and like using a controller, it’s a solid option.
So yeah – plenty of ways to dive in.
Click here for a more detailed breakdown of all the methods.
| Native | Boosteroid, XCloud and GFN | |
| Requirements | Intel Core i7-4650U or Apple M1; 4 GB Memory | ≥ 15 Mbps Internet speed (Boosteroid) ≥ 25 Mbps Internet speed (GFN) |
| Must Own Game | Yes | Yes – Boosteroid and GFN No – XCloud |
| Supported game stores | Boosteroid, XCloud, and GFN | Steam, Xbox Game Pass, Epic |
| Setup Difficulty | 1/5 – 🍼 Child’s Play | 1/5 – 🍼 Child’s Play |
| Time to Set Up | ~ 10 min | ~ 10 min |
| Performance | 5/5 – native experience | 4/5 – near native experience |
| Stability | 5/5 – very stable | 4/5 – only minor hiccups |
Now let’s move on to how to use those methods.
How to Play Subnautica on Mac
So now that we know Subnautica can run on Mac – and in a few different ways – let’s actually get into the how. I’ve personally tried each of these methods, tested them on my setup, and took note of what worked, what didn’t, and what to expect. Whether you’re going native or going cloud, I’ll walk you through each step. No fluff, no tech jargon – just straight-up instructions that actually get you in the game.
We Recommend:
🎮 This is the best value we found for Subnautica. It is our Editor’s Choice for this game, which we verify independently every time (see our Editorial Policy for our methodology).🎮
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You can play Subnautica for a total of $11 without buying it. If you don’t like it you can play over 100 other games with Boosteroid + PC Game Pass. Subnautica costs $50 full-price on Steam.
✔️ Over a hundred freely accessible titles with PC Game Pass. See the list of games here.
✔️ Up to 4K, 120FPS streaming quality and ray tracing, with Boosteroid Cloud Gaming.
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| Click to Get Boosteroid | $9.89 /month; $7.50 /mo if bought annually | Up to 4K/120 FPS with Ray-tracing and FSR |
| Click to Get PC Game Pass | $1 for 14 days, $11.99 /month later | Unlimited access to hundreds of gaming titles. |
How to Play Subnautica on Mac With Boosteroid
- 1.1Click the Boosteroid button above. Create an account or sign up with Google.
- 1.2Go to your profile page(top-right), click Subscribe, select a preferred plan, and start your subscription.
- 1.3Search for “Subnautica”, choose your preferred version of the game (Steam, Epic, etc.) and click Play (or Install and Play).
- 1.4Click OK, Let’s go, and wait for the game to load.
- 1.5Log into your game store account. Subnautica will launch directly in your browser.
How to Play Subnautica on Mac With GFN
- 1.1Click the GeForce Now link → Join Now → sign up for your preferred plan.
- 1.2Go to the Downloads page. Download GeForce Now for macOS.
- 1.3Double-click the installer. Drag the app to your Applications folder.
- 1.4Launch GFN and log in.
- 1.5Click the menu in the top left → Settings → connect your respective game store account.
- 1.6Click the menu again → Games → search for Subnautica, and click Play.
- 1.7Wait for the connection test. If you get a weak connection warning, you can ignore it by clicking Continue and still play the game.
- 1.8Wait for the game to load and start playing.
How to Play Subnautica on Mac With CrossOver
- 1.1Click the CrossOver button, download the app (the free 14-day trial or the paid version), and install it.
- 1.2Open CrossOver → Bottle (top-left) → New Bottle → Create (Windows 10, 64-bit compatibility).
- 1.3Right-click the new bottle → Install Software → search for Steam and install it.
- 1.4Open Steam, log in, search for Subnautica in your library, and install it.
- 1.5After it installs, exit Steam, enable E-Sync, and D3DMetal, and Reboot the bottle.
- 1.6Start Steam again and launch Subnautica from your library.
How to Download Subnautica on Mac With Whisky
- 1.1Click the Whisky button above and download the latest version.
- 1.2Double-click the downloaded .zip file and drag and drop the extracted Whisky to your Applications folder.
- 1.3Start Whisky. Click Open when asked to confirm the action. Click Next to install.
- 1.4Select Create a Bottle and create one with Windows 10 compatibility.
- 1.5Open this Steam page and click the Windows logo (under Install Steam) to download the Windows version.
- 1.6In Whisky, click Open C: drive. Drag and drop the SteamSetup.exe file into C:.
- 1.7Click Run in Whisky, find SteamSetup.exe, open it, and follow the prompts.
- 1.8When Steam installs, log in and click Allow when asked if you want the application to accept incoming connections.
- 1.9In Steam, find Subnautica, click Install, and launch the game when its ready.
How to Run Subnautica on Mac With Bootcamp
- 1.1Head to Microsoft’s official site and download the latest Windows 10 ISO file.
- 1.2Next, open Boot Camp Assistant (found in Applications > Utilities), click Continue → Choose, pick your downloaded Windows ISO file, then click Open.
- 1.3Adjust the slider to give your Windows partition at least 50 GB storage, then click Install → Next.
- 1.4The installation begins. Follow the prompts, skip the product key prompt by selecting “I don’t have a product key”, then finish setting up Windows as guided.
- 1.5Once Windows is installed and set up, download Steam, install it, and use it to download Subnautica. Once that’s done, you are ready to play.
Subnautica on Mac – Conclusion
After messing around with all the available options, I can honestly say that playing Subnautica on a Mac is way easier than I expected. Whether you’re running it natively or streaming it through Boosteroid, GFN, or xCloud, there’s a setup out there that’ll work for your situation.
Personally, I lean toward Boosteroid for the balance of quality and ease, but your setup might steer you differently. Either way, you’ve got options – and they actually work. So pick your path, dive in, and get ready to lose a few hours to the ocean. It’s absolutely worth it.
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