If you’ve heard about the buzz surrounding Valorant and the community’s interest in running it on various platforms, you might be wondering if it’s available for your Mac. Since its release in 2020, Valorant has gained immense popularity, largely due to its free-to-play model, which has sparked the interest of many Mac users eager to join in on the fun.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know, including how to install Valorant on your Mac.
Valorant is a team-based first-person shooter that features five-on-five gameplay and was launched in 2020, taking cues from the highly acclaimed PC game Counter-Strike. Players take on the role of agents in teams of five, with each agent representing different cultures from around the world and bringing their unique abilities and backgrounds to the game. There are several game modes to choose from, such as Unrated, Spike Rush, Swiftplay, and Competitive. In the main game mode, one team plays as an attacker while the other defends. Matches are structured in a best-of-25 rounds format, where a team must secure three wins to claim victory. Other modes may have varying player counts and round setups.
Valorant is only available on Windows and cannot be played on any cloud gaming platform. This means you can’t install or play it directly on a Mac.
But, how to install Valorant on Mac?
If you have an Intel-based Mac, you can create a Boot Camp partition, install Windows, and then set up Valorant there. However, unlike some other games, Valorant doesn’t work with virtualization software like Parallels Desktop or compatibility layers such as CrossOver. Its anti-cheat system prevents it from running on these virtualization tools, which also means you can’t install Valorant on Macs with Apple silicon, as Boot Camp isn’t supported on those devices.
For Intel-based Macs, setting up a Boot Camp partition to install Valorant is a viable option. Here’s how to do it.
First, make sure your Mac’s Secure Boot setting is set to the default: Full Security. If you haven’t changed this setting, you can move forward without any adjustments. If it has been altered, you’ll need to reset it to the default for Boot Camp installation.
To do this, enter recovery mode by holding Command-R during startup, select Startup Security from the Utilities menu, choose Full Security, and then reboot your Mac normally.
If your Mac is running a version of macOS older than El Capitan, you’ll need a USB drive with at least 16GB of space to install Windows. However, if your Mac is on El Capitan or a newer version, a USB drive isn’t necessary.
Regardless of the macOS version, all Macs should have a minimum of 64GB of free space available, with 128GB being the ideal amount for a smooth installation.
- Navigate to Applications > Utilities and launch Boot Camp Assistant.
- Adhere to the instructions displayed on the screen and insert a USB flash drive if prompted.
- When Boot Camp requests that you determine the dimensions of the Windows partition, select a capacity of 64GB or more.
- After Boot Camp Assistant has completed the partition creation, your Mac will reboot, and you’ll encounter the Windows installer. If it inquires where to install Windows, opt for the Boot Camp partition and hit Install.
- Disconnect any external storage or other peripherals not needed for the installation, click Next, and proceed with the on-screen guidelines.
- After the Windows installation concludes, your Mac will restart into Windows, and you’ll see a ‘Welcome to Boot Camp’ notification on the display. Follow the on-screen prompts to install Boot Camp and Windows drivers, then restart when prompted.
Once you have Windows running in Boot Camp, you can easily switch back to Windows at any time by holding down the Option key during startup and selecting Boot Camp. To install Valorant, start by booting your Mac into the Boot Camp partition and then follow the steps outlined below. After you’ve downloaded and installed Valorant on Windows within the Boot Camp partition, you’re all set to play valorant on your mac!
For similar hyper-useful guides and tips for Valorant, stay tuned to Talkesport!
