How to run Shadow Empire on a 64-bit Apple Silicon Mac
Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2026 5:23 pm
I love Shadow Empire and it is my favorite strategy game. Vic has done a masterful job creating this game and it just gets better and better with each new version update. Since I've been an Apple user since the Macintosh SE was released in 1987, I thought I'd share my experience getting Shadow Empire running on a current Apple Silicon Mac.
For those unfamiliar with it, CrossOver by CodeWeavers is not a virtual machine like Parallels. Instead of installing and running a full copy of Windows, CrossOver uses Wine technology to translate Windows API calls directly to macOS. This means significantly lower memory and storage usage, better performance, faster startup times, and no Windows license is required.
My system:
14" MacBook Pro M4
24 GB RAM
1 TB SSD
macOS Tahoe 26.6.2
CrossOver 26.3
Installation steps:
1. Create a new Windows 10 bottle in CrossOver.
2. Install Steam into that bottle.
3. Download and install Shadow Empire through Steam.
4. In the CrossOver bottle settings, enable:
D3DMetal
MSync
High Resolution Mode
5. Edit the game's direct2d.txt file and set both entries to:
false
false
6. Launch the game.
I found the startup/menu fonts remain somewhat blocky, which appears to be a Wine/CrossOver rendering issue, but once in-game the display is very playable. I run at 3024×1964 resolution with UI Scale set to 125%, which provides clear and readable text on the 14" MacBook Pro display.
Shadow Empire has been running smoothly and performs far better than I expected on Apple Silicon. If you're a Mac user who wants to play Shadow Empire without dedicating resources to a full Windows virtual machine, CrossOver is definitely worth considering.
Regards,
ChewySTL
USMC Veteran (1985-93)
Semper Fi
For those unfamiliar with it, CrossOver by CodeWeavers is not a virtual machine like Parallels. Instead of installing and running a full copy of Windows, CrossOver uses Wine technology to translate Windows API calls directly to macOS. This means significantly lower memory and storage usage, better performance, faster startup times, and no Windows license is required.
My system:
14" MacBook Pro M4
24 GB RAM
1 TB SSD
macOS Tahoe 26.6.2
CrossOver 26.3
Installation steps:
1. Create a new Windows 10 bottle in CrossOver.
2. Install Steam into that bottle.
3. Download and install Shadow Empire through Steam.
4. In the CrossOver bottle settings, enable:
D3DMetal
MSync
High Resolution Mode
5. Edit the game's direct2d.txt file and set both entries to:
false
false
6. Launch the game.
I found the startup/menu fonts remain somewhat blocky, which appears to be a Wine/CrossOver rendering issue, but once in-game the display is very playable. I run at 3024×1964 resolution with UI Scale set to 125%, which provides clear and readable text on the 14" MacBook Pro display.
Shadow Empire has been running smoothly and performs far better than I expected on Apple Silicon. If you're a Mac user who wants to play Shadow Empire without dedicating resources to a full Windows virtual machine, CrossOver is definitely worth considering.
Regards,
ChewySTL
USMC Veteran (1985-93)
Semper Fi