GameHub will give Mac owners another imperfect way to play Windows games

cause for concern

In a recent interview with The Memory Core newsletter, Gamester admitted that its primary motivation for releasing the Windows emulation tool was to sell more of its controllers. But GameSir’s controllers don’t need to use the Android version, which it says was already sideloaded onto 5 million (primarily Chinese) Android devices before its official Google Play release in November.

GameHub on Android has also faced controversy for including several offensive trackers (which have been removed in the community-created Lite version). A GameSir representative told The Memory Core that this was just standard practice in the Chinese market, where there is less sensitivity to this kind of user tracking, and it has since been removed.

The representative also addressed concerns about reusing open source compatibility code in that interview, stating that its Windows emulator was “developed in-house by Gamesher’s core engineering team” with its “in-house compatibility layer (such as syscall hooks, GameScopeVK, and other technologies), rather than modifications to Wine’s core code.” As stated, the representative acknowledged GameFusion as a “reference”.[s] and use UI components from Winlator [an open source Windows emulation tool for Android]…to maintain the compatibility and familiarity of the ecosystem.”

The compatibility issues and controversial corporate entity involved here probably means that GameHub for Mac won’t be the Valve SteamOS/Proton moment Apple gamers have been waiting for. Still, it would be nice for MacBook owners to have another option to play Windows games without needing to run a Windows install.