Just Cause 3, Mac Mini M4, CrossOver, Unlimited Edition Mod: Performance test

Описание: Just Cause 3

This game now runs well with CrossOver, after the game update on Dec 17, 2025. The update reportedly just removed an earlier version of Denovo protection from the game, which was not compatible with ARM CPUs. There might be a "black screen" on initial run, but it can be fixed.


TIMELINE:
00:00 Test Setup
00:12 Gameplay (Unlimited Edition)
00:35 Graphics Settings
01:36 Sandbox Menu (Unlimited Edition)
04:16 PART II: Vanilla (unmodded) Game
07:40 Results Summary


PERFORMANCE TEST:

Test setup: Mac Mini M4 16GB 10CPU/10GPU, macOS 26.3 Tahoe, CrossOver 26.0, D3DMetal, MSync.

Settings: 1440p resolution, High-Very High graphics with some tweaks.

With Unlimited Edition Mod, the performance averages around 50FPS (estimate).

Vanilla Game (unmodded) has 10% higher performance with the same graphics settings (estimate).

It is possible to get 60+ FPS at 1080p on the Mac Mini M4, with maxed-out graphics settings.


ISSUE: There may be just a black screen if the game is running the first time!

Fix: The black screen issue happens when the game tries to auto-detect graphics settings during the initial run. Thanks to a Reddit post, this issue can be fixed by adding launch options: /borderless /windowed . Once the game starts, graphics settings can be adjusted in the game, and launch options can be removed.

Link to the Reddit post by u/matthuska:   / just_cause_3_now_runs_on_macos_through_cro...  



JC3 UNLIMITED EDITION MOD:

From the mod description: "Unlimited Edition adds new vehicles, cut and beta content, improves basic things and visuals, and so much more."

The mod is easy to install and activate. Just download the mod (2.4GB size), extract and copy its contents into the Just Cause 3 game directory. The mod just adds additional folders and files; it does not replace original game files. Once active, the mod adds a SANDBOX MENU option to the game menu, with lots of options.

Once the mod files are copied, adding the following launch options is enough to activate the mod:

--vfs-fs dropzone --vfs-archive patch_win64 --vfs-archive archives_win64 --vfs-fs

By not using the above launch options, the vanilla game can be started again.

Link to the Unlimited Edition Mod:
https://videogamemods.com/vgm/justcau...



NOTES:

1. I wanted to try a couple of Reshade presets for this game, by using DXMT or DXVK. With DXMT the game crashes before reaching the menu (v0.72.5 and 0.73), and with DXVK the performance is far from being playable.

2. The game also runs under Parallels Desktop Windows 11 ARM virtual machine (and possibly with VMware), but performance suffers a lot (under 30 FPS and with stutters at 1440p).