Apple introduces game porting Toolkit 2, allowing developers to port macOS games to iOS
iOS app developers can bring high-quality games to a broader audience.
Last year, Apple introduced the Game Porting Toolkit to help developers translate Windows games for macOS. This opened the doors for several AAA titles to make their debut on Mac, significantly boosting the gaming experience on Apple’s desktop platform.
Now, with the release of Game Porting Toolkit 2, unveiled during WWDC 2024, Apple is extending this capability to iOS 18.
Emmanuel Oyedeji
This upgrade means that once a game is optimized for macOS, developers can easily port it to iPhone and iPad. The toolkit handles the heavy lifting by converting DirectX graphics to Metal, Apple’s powerful graphics API, and integrating features like Spatial Audio and HDR video. This makes the transition smoother and less labor-intensive, allowing developers to focus on perfecting their game rather than rewriting it from scratch for each platform.
iOS app developers can bring high-quality games to a broader audience and also leverage iOS’s features. For example, vibrations designed for game controllers on macOS can be replicated using the iPhone’s Haptic Engine, providing a consistent and immersive experience across devices.
As reported by 9to5Mac, the Game Porting Toolkit now supports advanced graphics features like ray-tracing and the AVX2 instruction set, making games look even more stunning on compatible hardware. More developers can now consider bringing graphically intense games to iOS without compromising on performance.
With the upcoming public release of iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia this fall, gamers can expect a flood of new and exciting titles to hit the App Store.
