How To Play Overwatch 2 On Mac For Free (inc. M1 & M2 Macs)

Although Overwatch 2 has not been released for Mac, here we show you how you can still play Overwatch 2 on Mac for free.

Overwatch 2 is a free-to-play, team-based action game where you fight to the death in 5v5 battlefield brawls.

You can team up with friends and play a range of different heroes including a time-travelling freedom fighter, a battlefield DJ or 30 other heroes as you fight others across the globe.

Activision Blizzard replaced Overwatch with Overwatch 2 on the 4th of October 2022 so the first Overwatch (which also wasn’t available for Mac) is no longer available on any platform.

Although there were high hopes for a Mac version this time round, Blizzard did not release a Mac version of Overwatch 2.

Overwatch 2 is only available for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

The good news however is that you can still play Overwatch 2 on Mac and it’s free to play.

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• Best Ways To Play Windows Games On Mac

There are various ways to play Windows games on Mac but the best ways to play Overwatch 2 on a Mac are:

• Installing Windows using Parallels (Intel Macs only because although Parallels supports running Windows on Apple Silicon M1 & M2 Macs, Overwatch 2 does not work in it)
• installing Windows on Mac for free using Boot Camp (Intel Macs only as Boot Camp does not work on M1 & M2 Macs)

Although there are several ways of installing Windows on a Mac using Parallels and Boot Camp are the only methods that work for Overwatch 2 on Intel Macs.

Note that there are no Cloud gaming services such as GeForce Now that allow you to play Overwatch 2 as Activision Blizzard does not license its games to be played on Cloud gaming platforms.

Some games like Genshin Impact can be played on a Mac using GeForce Now but Overwatch 2 is not available on it.

Can You Play Overwatch 2 on M1 & M2 Macs?

Apple removed the Boot Camp utility from Apple Silicon M1 and M2 Macs so you can’t install Windows on a Mac using Boot Camp.

And although you can install Windows on M1 & M2 Macs using Parallels, Overwatch 2 does not work in Parallels running Windows on M1 & M2 Macs.

The reason is because Apple Silicon M1/M2 Macs only supports the Windows ARM version of Windows which Overwatch 2 is not compatible with.

Since there are no Cloud gaming services such as GeForce Now that have Overwatch 2 either, there’s currently no way to play Overwatch 2 on M1 and M2 Macs.

With this in mind, here’s how to install Overwatch 2 on a Mac.

1. Overwatch 2 On Mac With Parallels (Intel Macs Only)

By far the best way to play Overwatch 2 on a Mac is to install Windows on an Intel Mac using Parallels and then run the Windows version of Overwatch 2 on your Mac in Battle.net.

Although there are various methods of running Windows on a Mac the only way to install Overwatch on an Intel Mac in Windows is with a virtual environment like Parallels.

This allows you to run Windows at the same time as macOS so you can switch between the two at any time.

Parallels also works with the latest version of macOS Ventura so that you can run Ventura and Windows side-by-side whenever you want.

However, although you can install Windows on M1 & M2 Macs with Parallels, it does not allow you to play Overwatch 2 on M1 and M2 Macs.

If you try to launch Overwatch 2 in Parallels on an M1 or M2 Mac, it simply won’t work.

Parallels automatically downloads and installs Windows for you and makes the whole setup process very easy.

You can then simply download Overwatch 2 in Battle.net which you can then play on your Mac.

Once you’ve installed Overwatch 2 on your Mac with Parallels, you may need to change some of the game settings such as the frame rate if you experience lag.

You should be able to play Overwatch on your Mac with around 50 frames per second with all presets set to high and 2K resolution.

However, if you experience glitches, try changing the resolution to 1080p with all presets on a medium or low setting to get a higher frame rate.

If there are other Windows only applications or games apart from Overwatch 2 that you want to use or play, we definitely recommend installing Windows on your Mac.

You can download a free trial of Parallels to start installing Overwatch 2 on your Mac now.

You can also read more about it in our full Parallels for Mac review.

For more on playing Windows PC games on a Mac, check out our guide to the best ways to play Windows games on Mac.

2. Overwatch 2 On Mac With Boot Camp (Intel Macs Only)

Boot Camp is a free tool in macOS which allows you to install Windows for free on a separate partition of the your Mac hard drive.

However, it only works on Intel Macs – Boot Camp is not available in the latest Apple Silicon M1 & M2 Macs.

Boot Camp enables you to boot your Intel Mac in either Windows or macOS whenever you want.

It also allows your Mac to dedicate all of its resources to running highly demanding games like Overwatch 2 for smoother gameplay than other ways of running Windows on a Mac.

To play Overwatch 2 on your Mac using Boot Camp, follow these instructions to install Windows for free on a Mac.

When you’ve installed Windows on your Mac, you then simply download Overwatch 2 in Battle.net to play Overwatch 2 on your Mac.

Bear in mind that when you setup Boot Camp on your Mac, you’ll need plenty of space on your Mac hard drive to install both Windows and Overwatch 2.

The exact system requirements for Overwatch 2 are:

• Windows® 10 64-bit (latest Service Pack)
• Intel® Core™ i3 or AMD Phenom™ X3 8650
• NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 600 series, AMD Radeon™ HD 7000 series
• 6 GB RAM
• 50 GB available hard drive space
• Broadband internet connection1024 x 768 minimum display resolution

Can You Play Overwatch 2 In Parallels on a Mac?

You can play Overwatch 2 on Intel Macs using Parallels but not on M1 and M2 Macs.

Although you can install Overwatch 2 in Windows using Parallels on Apple Silicon M1/M2 Macs, it will not launch when you try to open it.

Many users are confused by this because it works on Intel Macs but not Apple Silicon Macs.

It’s not clear why this is but there seems to be some kind of technical limitation between Windows and Apple Silicon Macs that prevents Overwatch 2 from running in Parallels on M1/M2 Macs.

Can You Play Overwatch 2 In Crossover on a Mac?

Crossover is a Windows emulator but does not support Overwatch 2 so you can’t use it to play Overwatch 2 on a Mac.

Can You Play Overwatch 2 On GeForce Now on Mac?

Overwatch 2 is not available on GeForce Now so you can’t use GeForce Now to play it on a Mac.

The main reason for this is that Activision Blizzard does not allow its games to be played on Cloud gaming platforms like GeForce Now.

This is unlikely to change soon as Activision Blizzard is also currently being taken over by Microsoft which almost certainly will not release games on NVIDIA’s platform as it will launch them on Microsoft XBox Cloud instead.

This also means that there are no cloud gaming platforms that allow you to play Overwatch 2 including Boosteroid and Google Stadia.

Will Overwatch 2 Be Released On Mac?

It seems unlikely that Overwatch 2 will ever be released on Mac.

The original Overwatch was never released for macOS and despite huge improvements in gaming on Macs, there appear to be no plans to launch a Mac version of Overwatch 2.

The lead developer of Overwatch has previously stated that it’s unlikely Overwatch will ever to make it to Mac due to constraints imposed by Apple so there seems little prospect of Overwatch 2 making it to macOS either.