Valve games on a Mac: what runs after Valve dropped the Mac versions
Updated 8 November 2026 · Steam data and player reports as of 2 November 2026
In June 2024 Valve quietly removed macOS from the platform list of its Source engine games: Portal and Portal 2, Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2, Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike: Source, Half-Life 2 with its episodes and Lost Coast, and Day of Defeat: Source (Game Developer, 17 June 2024). Counter-Strike 2 and Deadlock never had a Mac version. On an Apple Silicon Mac all of these now run as Windows versions through a compatibility layer — which is how Uncork, our free app, runs them. Below, game by game: our own test with its date, or reports from players on Macs.
Which Valve games run on a Mac?
| Game | Mac version on Steam | What we know |
|---|---|---|
| Counter-Strike 2 | never had one | tested ourselves: 102 to 147 frames per second on Dust II, MacBook Pro 14″ with M3 Pro, 30 September 2026 |
| Half-Life 2 | dropped in 2024 | tested ourselves: reaches the main menu, 6 October 2026; not played further |
| Portal 2 | dropped in 2024 | tested ourselves: reaches the main menu, 5 October 2026; not played further |
| Left 4 Dead 2 | dropped in 2024 | 3 player reports (M1, M2), 16 September – 30 October 2026, rated 2–5 out of 5 |
| Team Fortress 2 | dropped in 2024 | 4 player reports (A18 Pro, M3 Max, M4), 20–30 September 2026, rated 4–5 out of 5 |
| Portal | dropped in 2024 | 1 player report: M4 Pro, 19 October 2026, 5 out of 5 |
| Deadlock | never had one | 8 player reports (M2 to M5 Pro), 28 September – 1 November 2026, rated 3–5 out of 5 |
| Half-Life 2: Deathmatch | no | 1 player report: M5 Pro, 24 October 2026, 5 out of 5 |
| Half-Life 2: Episode One and Episode Two, Lost Coast, Left 4 Dead, Counter-Strike: Source, Day of Defeat: Source | dropped in 2024 | no test of ours and no player reports from Macs yet |
Player reports come from the open highball-db database (CC0, snapshot of 2 November 2026): players ran these games through the same kind of compatibility layer Uncork uses. The Mac version column follows the Steam store on the same date.
Which Valve games still have a Mac version?
The old GoldSrc games — Half-Life, Counter-Strike, Counter-Strike: Condition Zero, Day of Defeat, Deathmatch Classic — plus Half-Life: Source and Dota Underlords are still sold for macOS on Steam (2 November 2026). Their Mac requirements list only Intel, so on Apple Silicon Rosetta 2 runs them; we have not checked how well. Install them in Steam for Mac; they don't need Uncork. What Apple plans for Rosetta in macOS 28 is on the page “Rosetta and macOS 27”.
Why did Valve drop the Mac versions?
Valve did not explain it: there was no announcement, macOS simply disappeared from the store’s platform list. We have not found an official reason.
How do I play Half-Life 2, Portal 2 or Left 4 Dead 2 on an M1 Mac or newer?
- Download Uncork — it’s free. You need an Apple Silicon Mac with macOS 14 or later.
- On first launch, Uncork installs everything it needs and Steam — about ten minutes.
- Sign in to Steam with your password or a QR code from the Steam app on your phone.
- Find the game in your library, install it and start it with “Play”.
Old Valve games draw through DirectX 9 or OpenGL, and for those Uncork uses its built-in graphics. Half-Life 2 and Portal 2 reach the menu from Uncork 1.0.3 on: before that the driver gave them no OpenGL and they closed.
In Counter-Strike 2, official matchmaking with VAC works in Uncork: in September 2026 we played competitive and casual matches and deathmatch, and as of 8 November 2026 the account has no bans. We have not recorded online play with VAC in Team Fortress 2 or Left 4 Dead 2, and we found no official Valve statement about running them through a compatibility layer (2 November 2026). More on the CS2 page.
What we have not tested
- We have not run Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead 2, Portal or Deadlock in Uncork ourselves: for those there are only player reports.
- We took Half-Life 2 and Portal 2 to the main menu; we did not play further or measure frame rates.
- We have not checked how the old Intel Mac versions run through Rosetta on Apple Silicon.
If you have played one of these games on a Mac, write to hello@uncork.win and tell us how it went: it makes the table more accurate.
Read next
- How to play CS2 on a Mac: M3 Pro frame rates, mouse, VAC, FACEIT — every way in short, records with dates and conditions, and what does not work
- Half-Life 2 on a Mac: how to run the classic — how to run Half-Life 2 on a Mac through Uncork and how far we got on an M3 Pro
- Portal 2 on a Mac: how to run the portal puzzler — how to run Portal 2 on a Mac through Uncork and how far we got on an M3 Pro
Won’t start, crashes or something is unclear? Message us on Telegram at @uncorkwin and we’ll sort it out. If you sent a problem report from Uncork, include its number.