Valorant on Mac

Valorant is a hugely popular multiplayer game, with more than 17 million players around the world. Unfortunately, its creator, Riot Games, hasn’t made a version for macOS, preferring Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.

So what are your options if you want to play Valorant on Mac? Well, it depends on a few different factors, as you’re about to find out.

Before we start:

 

Like many modern games, Valorant is BIG. To download and install Vagrant on Mac, you’ll need over 28GB of free space on your hard drive or SSD. That’s why, if you need to make some room, try MacKeeper’s Smart Uninstaller. Our tool will help you quickly find and delete unwanted apps, extensions, widgets, and more—all in just a few clicks.

 

Here’s how to use the helpful tool:

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What is Valorant?

Valorant is a free-to-play, tactical first-person shooter, which pits two teams of five against each other. This online game features several different play modes, including Spike Rush, Swift Play, and Deathmatch.

In a standard match, the attacking team has to carry an explosive device called the Spike to a particular location and activate it—while the defending team has to prevent that from happening.

Valorant’s main game mode is the best of 25 rounds, meaning the first to notch up 13 rounds wins.

Can you play Valorant on Mac?

There’s only one way to get Valorant on a Mac—by running Windows through Boot Camp on an Intel Mac.

Is Valorant supported on Mac?

Although Valorant isn’t officially supported on Mac, it should work for your computer if you use Boot Camp. We should note here that Macs aren’t built for gaming, so you may not get as good performance as you expect. Thus, If you have an Intel Mac with a discrete GPU, it’ll usually run better.

Requirements for Valorant on Mac

There are a few things you need to run Valorant on your Mac:

• A copy of Windows 10 (installing Windows 11 is possible but more difficult).
• A USB drive with at least 16GB of free space, if your macOS version is older than El Capitan.
• At least 64GB of disk space for Windows and 28.4GB for Valorant.

Macs that support Windows 10

These Intel-based Macs will work smoothly with Windows 10:

• MacBook (2015 and later)
• MacBook Air (2012 and later)
• MacBook Pro (2012 and later)
• Mac mini (2012 and later)
• iMac introduced (2012 and later)
• iMac Pro (all models)
• Mac Pro (2013 and later)

Install Valorant on Mac with Boot Camp

Got everything ready? Here’s how to install Valorant on your Mac:

1. Open Boot Camp Assistant from Applications > Utilities.
2. Follow the instructions. Connect your USB drive if asked.
3. Create a Windows partition of 64GB or more.
4. Restart the Windows installer. Install Windows to the Boot Camp partition, then boot into Windows and install drivers.
5. Download Valorant for Mac, install it, and run it.

Will Valorant come to Mac?

Currently, there’s no sign of Valorant coming to Mac. Brent Randall, one of Riot Games's senior engineers, told a Reddit group in 2021 that there were no plans to support macOS. While it’s possible it might be available in the future, the only way for Apple users to get involved right now is Boot Camp.

Can you run Valorant in a virtual machine on Mac?

If you’re familiar with virtual machines for Mac, you’ll know it’s possible to run Windows software on Macs without Boot Camp. This method will even work with Macs that run on an Apple Silicon chip, such as M1, M2, or M3.

Some of the most popular virtualization tools include:

• Parallels Desktop
• VMware Fusion
• UTM

There are also tools like the compatibility layer tool Crossover from CodeWeavers.

Note from our experts:

 

Unfortunately, none of these will let you play Valorant on a Mac. Even if you managed to install the game using one of these tools, it wouldn’t be able to get anywhere near the system requirements.

 

You wouldn’t be able to run Valorant's anti-cheat system, Vanguard, either. It’s a custom-made solution that relies on kernel-level access to Windows—something that probably isn’t possible on Macs due to macOS security features. Without Vanguard, you’re going to get kicked out of games and probably get your account banned at the same time.

Can you play Valorant through streaming services?

With no Mac version and no support for virtualization tools, cloud gaming might seem like a good way to run Valorant on Mac. Sadly, while this is a good option for gaming on Mac, Valorant isn’t available on streaming services like NVidia GeForce Now, Amazon Luna, Xbox Game Pass, and Shadow PC. These cloud services rely on virtual machines, which means they’re incompatible with Valorant’s anti-cheat system.

Can’t play Valorant on Mac? Now what?

It’s a shame that Riot Games doesn’t have plans to release an Apple version of Valorant, but that’s how things stand. If you have an Intel-based Mac, you can run the game by using Boot Camp to install Windows, but it may not run that well. Your best options if you really want to play Valorant are to buy a Windows PC or a supported games console.

You might also want to explore some of the other great games to play on Mac. There aren’t as many as there used to be, but there’s a decent selection of free titles, as well as some AAA games like Death Stranding, Resident Evil 7, Stray, and Total War. Take a look at the Play section of the Mac App Store to see what’s available.

You can also get Mac games from other stores and websites, but the advantage of buying them from Apple’s store is you know they’re secure. Check out Are App Store apps safe? to learn more.

Whatever you choose to play, and wherever you buy your games from, you can manage your disk space with MacKeeper’s Smart Uninstaller. As well as helping you make room for your latest installations, our tool will make it easier to uninstall games you’re finished with, without them leaving behind files that clog up your Mac’s hard drive.