Bourbon 26

Run Steam and Windows games on Apple Silicon. Smart Play picks the path, you click Play.

Bourbon 26 is a native Mac app that installs and manages the Windows gaming stack on Apple Silicon. Instead of hand-tuning Rosetta, Homebrew, MoltenVK, Wine, DXVK, Steam, Game Porting Toolkit, and per-game launch options, Bourbon gives you one setup flow, automatic best-method launching, and a clear home for your library, stores, and remote play.

Open Bourbon, click Set Up Everything, open Stores → Steam, sign in, install a game you own, then launch it from Games with Smart Play.

Nervous about the purchase? Download Bourbon free and try it with a 24-hour trial to make sure your games and configs work. When you’re ready, buy on itch and Sign in with itch.io to unlock. 

Why Bourbon?

Running Windows games on Mac is possible, but the setup and maintenance are usually the hard part. Bourbon focuses on making that process simple, durable, and friendly:

• One-click setup for the core stack
• Smart Play that chooses a working launch method per game
• A real Games library with Continue Playing and play history
• A dedicated Stores hub for Steam and Heroic (Epic / GOG / Amazon)
• Per-game and Steam settings you can understand and change
• Save and Steam login protection across Wine, DXMT, and GPTK paths

Bourbon is not a Windows virtual machine and does not require a Windows license for the Wine path. Games run through compatibility and graphics translation layers directly on macOS.

Features

Setup and Steam

• One-click setup for Rosetta 2, Homebrew, MoltenVK, Wine Staging, Steam, DXVK, VKD3D, core fonts, and the Steam UI fix
• Permissions panel that catches setup blockers before install
• Steam install, launch, stop, repair, update, and client launch settings
• Big Picture by default, with Desktop Mode still available in Steam settings
• More reliable Steam cold starts (pending client updates finalized, stale wineserver cleaned up)
• External and secondary drive support for Steam libraries
• Movable Bourbon data folder for users who need more space

Stores, Games, and Remote Play

• Stores hub — Steam as your primary library, plus Heroic for Epic, GOG, and Amazon
• Games — Continue Playing row, library list with last played / play time, and full Smart Play actions
• Windows Apps — curated Windows software (including titles like AIL eAPP) with Smart Play metadata
• Remote Play — native WebKit windows for Xbox Cloud, GeForce NOW, Amazon Luna, and Boosteroid, plus PC/PlayStation remote clients when available
• Cleaner App Store–style navigation: Home → Games → Stores → Remote Play → Windows Apps → Advanced

Smart Play

• Automatic best-method launching using community data, confirmed recipes, folder detection, and local success history
• Renderer choices including DXVK, WineD3D, VKD3D, Apple D3DMetal/GPTK, DXMT, native macOS, and specialized Wine paths
• Safe fallback when the recommended method fails
• Visible-window / renderer verification so “Steam started” is not treated as “game launched”
• Batch matrix tooling for validating many titles with the same Smart Play rules
• Automatic EA app handling for titles that need it
• Per-game launch configuration: renderer, Steam profile, sync mode, window mode, launch options, DirectX options, overlay, and diagnostics
• Rebuildable macOS game launchers from Bourbon

Compatibility layer

• Community knowledge from ProtonDB, AppleGamingWiki, AreWeAntiCheatYet, MacGamingDB, and related research
• Managed recipes for dependencies, registry changes, DLL overrides, launch arguments, and known failures
• Optional add-ons: Visual C++ runtimes, DirectX helpers, fonts, Media Foundation, PhysX, XNA, and .NET Desktop
• DXMT as a first-class DirectX-to-Metal path
• Optional Game Porting Toolkit 3 / D3DMetal path, with experimental GPTK 4 Beta DMG import
• CrossOver-source Wine support for tools and titles that benefit from it
• Renderer verification and DXVK async shader-cache support

Saves, accounts, and recovery

• Private durable save vault outside Bourbon’s normal data folder
• Save sync across Wine, Source/legacy, DXMT, and GPTK environments
• Newest-copy selection with conflict archives instead of silent overwrites
• Steam authentication and userdata preserved across renderer changes, repairs, uninstall, and factory reset
• Prefix snapshots, restore, rollback, and pruning
• Privacy-safe support bundles for troubleshooting

Also included

• Manual .exe / .msi launching for downloaded Windows apps and games
• itch.io sign-in unlock with a 24-hour free trial and 3-Mac seat management in Settings
• Signed in-app Sparkle updates
• Developer ID signed and Apple notarized public builds

Steam on Mac, Without the Terminal Fight

Once Bourbon is set up, Steam runs inside a configured Wine environment, defaulting to Big Picture so it feels like a living-room client on day one. Sign into your real Steam account, install supported Windows games from your library, and launch them from Games with Smart Play.

Bourbon chooses a recommended stack for each title, applies known fixes, and verifies that a game window or renderer actually appears. You can still open Stores, browse Windows Apps, launch a Windows .exe manually, or open downloaded .exe / .msi files with Bourbon from Finder.

D3DMetal, DXMT, and Game Porting Toolkit

Bourbon includes multiple graphics paths:

• DXVK + MoltenVK for DirectX → Vulkan → Metal (the usual Steam default)
• WineD3D for titles that prefer Wine’s built-in renderer
• VKD3D for DirectX 12 where useful
• DXMT for an isolated DirectX 10/11 → Metal path
• Apple D3DMetal / GPTK for games you choose to run that way

Game Porting Toolkit 3 is the supported optional GPTK path and tracks the Homebrew cask.

Game Porting Toolkit 4 Beta is experimental: Bourbon can open Apple’s download page and import the downloaded GPTK 4 DMG.

When GPTK is used for a Steam title, Bourbon starts Steam first so ownership and authentication are available before the game launch.

Cloud Gaming & Remote Play

Bourbon opens popular cloud gaming services in clean native WebKit windows:

• Xbox Cloud
• GeForce NOW
• Amazon Luna
• Boosteroid
• PS4/PS5 Remote Play (Chiaki)
• Windows/Linux/Mac Remote Play (Moonlight)

These services require their own accounts or subscriptions. Bourbon simply gives you a cleaner native launcher window under Remote Play.

Important Compatibility Note

Not every Windows game will work.

Games with kernel-level anti-cheat, aggressive DRM, unsupported launchers, unusual dependencies, or very new graphics features may fail or require future updates. Bourbon simplifies setup, launching, and recovery; it does not guarantee that every Windows game works on every Mac.

Bourbon does not strip, crack, bypass, or remove DRM. You sign into your own Steam account and play games you legally own.

Requirements

• Apple Silicon Mac: M1, M2, M3, M4, or newer
• macOS 14 Sonoma or later
• Administrator account recommended for first-time setup
• Internet connection for the lightweight download and license check
• Enough disk space for Steam, Wine support files, and games

What’s New in 26.7.21

• Stores hub — Steam + Heroic (Epic / GOG / Amazon) as first-class destinations
• Games library — Continue Playing, last played / play time, and cleaner Smart Play actions
• Steam Big Picture default — Desktop Mode remains a one-click setting
• Remote Play & Windows Apps — cloud streams and curated Windows software in the sidebar
• itch unlock — free download, 24-hour trial, Sign in with itch.io, 3 Mac seats
• Smarter Steam setup — more reliable first launches, VKD3D + corefonts in the main setup path
• Smart Play batch matrix — validate many titles against the same recommendation rules
• Release quality — Developer ID signed, Apple notarized, stapled builds with in-app updates

Price

Bourbon 26 is $29.99.

Download free, try the 24-hour trial, then unlock with your itch purchase. Buy once, own it for life — no subscription. Each purchase covers up to 3 Macs. Major upgrades may be offered separately, but your current copy keeps working.

Who Is This For?

Bourbon 26 is for Mac users who want the easiest path from “I have a Mac” to “Steam is launching my Windows game,” without manually configuring Wine, translation layers, launch scripts, and setup fixes.

If you want to tinker, the per-game and Steam settings are there. If you want Bourbon to choose a good path and keep your saves and login safe while it does, that is the default experience.

Support

Need help or want to report a compatibility issue?

Join the Discord

Open source, for the community

Bourbon is a paid app, but we’re also giving back. Bourbon-OSS is our public collection of Smart Play recipes, community fix catalogs, a MoltenVK-friendly DXVK patch, a Steam CEF shim for black UI under Wine, and small tools anyone can use in their own Wine setups.

The polished app, one-click setup, and Smart Play engine stay with Bourbon. The recipes and reusable fixes are for everyone who keeps Windows games running on Mac.

Final Note

Bourbon is not magic, and Mac gaming compatibility will always depend on the game, the launcher, Apple’s tools, Wine updates, and the Mac you are using. But if you want a simpler, cleaner, actively maintained way to get started — with Stores, Smart Play, durable saves, and a real recovery story — Bourbon 26 is one of the easiest ways to run Windows Steam games on Apple Silicon today.