My game runs slowly on my computer. Is there anything I can do to increase the speed?

There are several factors that have an impact on the speed at which a game runs. Chief of these is the speed of the CPU (central processing unit), the speed and amount of GPU (graphics processing unit) memory and the amount of system memory (RAM) your Mac has.

You can check your Mac's CPU, GPU and system memory by selecting About This Mac from the Apple menu. The faster your processors are and the more RAM your Mac has, the better it will be at running games.

Whether you have a high-spec Mac or not, there are a few simple steps you can take to help speed it up for gaming.

Upgrade to the latest version of Mac OS X

Later versions of OS X are more efficient than older ones, so updating to the latest version is usually helpful.

To update your OS, select About This Mac from the Apple menu at the top left of the screen. Now click on the Software Update button. Depending on which version of OS X your Mac is running this will either open an update window or the Mac App Store app, where any available updates will be displayed.

If there aren't any displayed then you're already running the latest version!

Close down apps you aren't using

Each app you run takes up some system memory; some apps are more memory hungry than others. Games, for example, can require a lot of memory to run properly.

Running a lot of apps at the same time can have a detrimental effect on a game's performance. Quitting these apps will free up system memory and can speed up your game.

Upgrade your Mac’s memory

Depending on your model, you may be able to upgrade your Mac’s memory; having more memory can help speed it up. For more information on how to do this, please see Apple’s page on the topic.

Clear out your hard drive

A full hard drive is a slow hard drive, which means it'll take your Mac longer to load game data from the hard drive into memory. This can slow down a game significantly.

There are many apps that can help you delete unneeded data and optimize your hard drive. We recommend the free version of CCleaner, which will help you manage your data and free up space on your hard drive.

Update your game

It may be that there’s an update available for your game – these updates will sometimes improve the speed at which a game runs. To see if there's an update you can check your game's Support page. You can also keep your game up-to-date automatically by ticking the Automatically check for updates option on the Support tab in your game's pre-game Options window.

Check your game’s ReadMe

Every game’s options are slightly different. See the Performance Tips section in your game’s ReadMe for details on how you might improve performance.

If none of the above helps, then...

Turn down the graphics options

All our games come with adjustable graphics. These are typically found in the game's main menu under 'Options' and enable you to tune the way your game looks. Higher graphics options will make the game look better, but are more demanding on the hardware so can have a negative impact on how smoothly a game runs.

Reducing graphics settings – for example changing a setting from 'High' to 'Medium' – will usually increase the game's frame rate (the number of frames it displays per second) and it will run more smoothly. The trade-off is that the game won't look quite as good: edges may become jagged or textures less sharp. We advise you play around with your settings to find a balance between your game playing smoothly and enjoying things like high-resolution textures and special effects.