Whisky, a popular tool for playing Windows games on Mac, is almost dead

A MacBook isn't typically popular as a gaming device. Hardcore gamers still buy dedicated Windows PCs or laptops, but Macs can still play games. Some options let you play Windows games on Mac, for instance, CrossOver, but that costs money upfront. The only free option available was an open-source tool called Whisky, aka WhiskyWine.

This tool makes use of Apple's Game Porting Toolkit (GPTK) and the Wine compatibility layer to allow Windows games to run on macOS. Unfortunately, the sole developer—who happens to be a student—has decided to abandon the project. The developer of Whisky made this announcement in a notice on the official website (spotted by TechSpot), stating that he "lost interest in the project."

The developer has also mentioned that Whisky will no longer be supported with future releases. However, in case future macOS upgrades break the Whisky application, users might still see some occasional updates. The sole developer of Whisky noted, "Running it is incredibly time-consuming, and as I'm still a student and also not being paid for work on Whisky, it becomes hard to justify working on it if I no longer enjoy it."

Additionally, the developer feels that Whisky doesn't offer anything exceptional to the Wine community. And since Whisky is based on CrossOver, it doesn't introduce new improvements, which limits its value. The developer even described Whisky's relationship with CrossOver as "parasitic," suggesting it could potentially harm CrossOver's profitability and Wine's presence on Mac.

CrossOver, on the other hand, has introduced significant upgrades, with the tool supporting DirectX 12 games on Apple's OS for quite some time. What's next for the sole developer of Whisky? According to the notice, they have moved on to other projects, such as "helping out with porting Sonic Unleashed Recompiled to macOS and Metal."

Source

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