Not just "nice". Apple is already starting to deprecate the Rosetta emulation. Without a compatibility update, the game will become unplayable on newer versions of the Mac OS.

Depending on which version of Unity they used it could be straightforward. Likely that an older Unity version was used and don't know whether its nontrivial to update to the new versions.

I'd rather have a linux port, it should be easy enough with unity.

As for the macs, just refrain from buying that set of wheels, and instead, get a gaming PC.

I don't buy a computer just so I can play games on it. I have a computer, and then I pick up a few games for it.

There's a lot to be said for a plan of "make this run on as many systems as possible". If nothing else, it increases the potential market. So, yes, do a Linux port. And also update the Mac port. That's not a mutually exclusive proposition.

Originally posted by jmerry82:

I don't buy a computer just so I can play games on it.

That's the whole point of having a gaming PC. You can get a new new one which is good enough to run Subnautica for the spare change after buying a mac. Or for roughly half the price of the "mac pro wheels kit".

Originally posted by jmerry82:

I have a computer, and then I pick up a few games for it.

No, you have a mac.

Originally posted by jmerry82:

There's a lot to be said for a plan of "make this run on as many systems as possible". If nothing else, it increases the potential market. So, yes, do a Linux port. And also update the Mac port. That's not a mutually exclusive proposition.

While I do agree, I think that's highly unlikely. At least it runs on linux through proton, even straight out-of-the-box.

Now, the fact that they've didn't bother with providing any ports for Subnautica 2 is a major argument against buying it.

Originally posted by Alex:

While I do agree, I think that's highly unlikely. At least it runs on linux through proton, even straight out-of-the-box.

Now, the fact that they've didn't bother with providing any ports for Subnautica 2 is a major argument against buying it.

If they do a native linux port, it might break many mods that do not try and compile for linux.

As for Subnautica 2, from what I previously saw, they seem to be using technology stack that cannot be easily ported to other operating systems. And as long as they optimize the game for Steam Deck, it doesn't matter if they have a native version. It is effectively no different.

Originally posted by sgrey:

If they do a native linux port, it might break many mods that do not try and compile for linux.

I haven't looked into how subnautica mods work on a technical level, but it might indeed be a problem.

Originally posted by sgrey:

As for Subnautica 2, from what I previously saw, they seem to be using technology stack that cannot be easily ported to other operating systems. And as long as they optimize the game for Steam Deck, it doesn't matter if they have a native version. It is effectively no different.

I'd still appreciate it, maybe up to the point where I might've entered the EA despite my strong adversion to it.

Apple hard- and software is historically difficult to work with, because they are very restrictive. This makes it hard for Game Developers to provide well working Game Versions for Macs.
Subnautica was fully released in 2018. Now its 2026... there will be no Mac-Port.
The Group of People who play on Macs is small compared to the entire Computer Ecosystem.
...its not worth the effort with Apple being this restrictive.
https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/Steam-Hardware-Software-Survey-Welcome-to-Steam

.. i hate to say it: betamax, quadrophonic, apple etc. restrictive devices get what they deserve. the customers of said devices... not so much

Originally posted by Notoshy:

Apple hard- and software is historically difficult to work with, because they are very restrictive. This makes it hard for Game Developers to provide well working Game Versions for Macs.
Subnautica was fully released in 2018. Now its 2026... there will be no Mac-Port.
The Group of People who play on Macs is small compared to the entire Computer Ecosystem.
...its not worth the effort with Apple being this restrictive.
https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/Steam-Hardware-Software-Survey-Welcome-to-Steam

So restrictive and yet codeweavers is able to run full emulation with Steam to run Mac games via crossover and mostly everything works there. Such a disingenuous response these days when I can rig and install custom code just by disabling sip. The other thing is the developers virtue signaling all the time about environmentalism while not letting me run their game on efficient hardware.

Originally posted by Weed Dragon 42069:

So restrictive and yet codeweavers is able to run full emulation with Steam to run Mac games via crossover and mostly everything works there.

Then do just that?

Originally posted by Weed Dragon 42069:

Such a disingenuous response these days when I can rig and install custom code just by disabling sip.

Might as well get a normal PC at this point.

Originally posted by Weed Dragon 42069:

The other thing is the developers virtue signaling all the time about environmentalism while not letting me run their game on efficient hardware.

Where did you hear that nonsense? No devs nowadays care about optimization.

Originally posted by Weed Dragon 42069:

Originally posted by Notoshy:

Apple hard- and software is historically difficult to work with, because they are very restrictive. This makes it hard for Game Developers to provide well working Game Versions for Macs.
Subnautica was fully released in 2018. Now its 2026... there will be no Mac-Port.
The Group of People who play on Macs is small compared to the entire Computer Ecosystem.
...its not worth the effort with Apple being this restrictive.
https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/Steam-Hardware-Software-Survey-Welcome-to-Steam

So restrictive and yet codeweavers is able to run full emulation with Steam to run Mac games via crossover and mostly everything works there. Such a disingenuous response these days when I can rig and install custom code just by disabling sip. The other thing is the developers virtue signaling all the time about environmentalism while not letting me run their game on efficient hardware.

Crossover is basically a paid version of Wine. The developers would love to just give you the game on your native platform, but technology just doesn't work like that. You cannot just recompile a Windows game to work on Mac or Linux, it has to be designed from the start for that. And that's why you have to use Crossover or Proton, which basically replace a few million dollars in spending by doing the same job that developers would have to do to make it run natively. They already spend a lot of time and money making the game run on various consoles and the desktop gaming market on Mac is quite small, even smaller than Linux share. So you don't get your native games, just like Linux doesn't.

Originally posted by sgrey:

Crossover is basically a paid version of Wine. The developers would love to just give you the game on your native platform, but technology just doesn't work like that. You cannot just recompile a Windows game to work on Mac or Linux, it has to be designed from the start for that. And that's why you have to use Crossover or Proton, which basically replace a few million dollars in spending by doing the same job that developers would have to do to make it run natively. They already spend a lot of time and money making the game run on various consoles and the desktop gaming market on Mac is quite small, even smaller than Linux share. So you don't get your native games, just like Linux doesn't.

the “apple is too restrictive to port to” thing is backwards. apple is the one actively helping studios do native arm ports — theyve been working directly with the unity and godot engine teams to get arm support in, and they shipped the game porting toolkit specifically to make this easier. the company youre calling impossible to work with is literally handing devs the tools. lmao.
and the hardware excuse is dead on arrival. sn1 is a 2018 unity game. it already runs around 35fps on an m1 pro — and thats through rosetta, translating x86 to arm on the fly, eating a chunk of performance and never touching metal natively. a native arm build would be 3-4x that on the same chip. on an m5 max it wouldnt even register as load. a regular m5 would walk it. “macs cant handle it” doesnt survive contact with the numbers.
native arm ports of old games are routine now, not theoretical. no mans sky is fully native and metal-optimized. resident evil village, baldurs gate 3, stray — all running native on apple silicon. studios do this constantly, on games way heavier than a 2018 survival game.
and heres the part that actually matters: rosetta is on a clock. apple confirmed its only supported as a general-purpose tool through macos 27, and starting with macos 28 (2027) they keep just a stripped subset for old unmaintained games on intel frameworks. macos 26.4 already throws a warning every time you launch something that needs it. so the intel sn1 build people paid for is going to break or get shoved into a deprecated compatibility bucket inside about a year.
so no, this isnt “apple is too hard to work with.” its a finished unity game, on hardware that crushes it, with apple actively helping, with a pile of peers having already shipped native ports, and a hard deadline coming where the current build stops working right. choosing not to spend the effort to keep a game you sold from breaking isnt a technical limitation. its complacency.

Originally posted by Weed Dragon 42069:

Originally posted by sgrey:

Crossover is basically a paid version of Wine. The developers would love to just give you the game on your native platform, but technology just doesn't work like that. You cannot just recompile a Windows game to work on Mac or Linux, it has to be designed from the start for that. And that's why you have to use Crossover or Proton, which basically replace a few million dollars in spending by doing the same job that developers would have to do to make it run natively. They already spend a lot of time and money making the game run on various consoles and the desktop gaming market on Mac is quite small, even smaller than Linux share. So you don't get your native games, just like Linux doesn't.

the “apple is too restrictive to port to” thing is backwards. apple is the one actively helping studios do native arm ports — theyve been working directly with the unity and godot engine teams to get arm support in, and they shipped the game porting toolkit specifically to make this easier. the company youre calling impossible to work with is literally handing devs the tools. lmao.
and the hardware excuse is dead on arrival. sn1 is a 2018 unity game. it already runs around 35fps on an m1 pro — and thats through rosetta, translating x86 to arm on the fly, eating a chunk of performance and never touching metal natively. a native arm build would be 3-4x that on the same chip. on an m5 max it wouldnt even register as load. a regular m5 would walk it. “macs cant handle it” doesnt survive contact with the numbers.
native arm ports of old games are routine now, not theoretical. no mans sky is fully native and metal-optimized. resident evil village, baldurs gate 3, stray — all running native on apple silicon. studios do this constantly, on games way heavier than a 2018 survival game.
and heres the part that actually matters: rosetta is on a clock. apple confirmed its only supported as a general-purpose tool through macos 27, and starting with macos 28 (2027) they keep just a stripped subset for old unmaintained games on intel frameworks. macos 26.4 already throws a warning every time you launch something that needs it. so the intel sn1 build people paid for is going to break or get shoved into a deprecated compatibility bucket inside about a year.
so no, this isnt “apple is too hard to work with.” its a finished unity game, on hardware that crushes it, with apple actively helping, with a pile of peers having already shipped native ports, and a hard deadline coming where the current build stops working right. choosing not to spend the effort to keep a game you sold from breaking isnt a technical limitation. its complacency.

I dunno who you replied to, my rageful, reddit-educated, emotional to the point of forgetting English grammar friend, but I never even made an argument that apple is too hard to work with. Nothing you said applies here and since you just seem to see red, that's all I am going to say. Chances are, you are not gonna get any new port of Subnautica since they are working on Sub 2 now. But who knows, maybe they will allocate some of that 250 mil bonus and actually upgrade the game. That's quite unlikely, imo.

Originally posted by Weed Dragon 42069:

so no, this isnt “apple is too hard to work with.”

Im guessing youre a rather young Apple User?
Apple hardware may have become more usable in the last few Years, but for the longest time, no Gamer would get even near a Mac to play Games. Apple themself tells you that Macs are for Productivity. Gaming needs a completely different Setup compared to work Software. The Software was more closed than the Big Clam in SN2 when it eats.
Native Mac Gaming? Forget it.
Conversion Layers? Existing, but barely usable.

That you even can play many Games today on Macs.... is because Steam knows how to make Games accessible. But native Games? A drop in the Bucket.
10 years ago? 5 years ago? The Gaming Experience on Macs was.... lets say "mixed".
Most would tell you to rather pick a Console or a PC for gaming. You can find countless Forum discussions around that online. I saw a list of native Mac Games for the old M1 chip, upated earlier this year.... its less than 400 Games - that Chip was launched in 2020.
Compare that to the over 120.000 playable Games on Steam.

You may understand that the, back then, Indie Studio UWE did look into a Mac Version when they launched Subnautica in 2014 and tried it over years. But even when the Game released in 2018, they couldnt find a working Solution.
Now, 8 years later, it doesnt make Sense to create a Mac Version. It would cost more than they could ever hope to earn with sold copies.
The Percentage of Mac Users on Steam is slim, really slim. Why should they invest Time and Ressources to make a Version that would be a financial Flop?