They're probably right but it does feel like a negative feedback loop. I used to have an Intel MacBook, during COVID I had a blast playing COD: Warzone with friends while in isolation. But then I got an M1 Mac and that door closed. If it were possible to play I'd probably still do it from time to time.
That said, I probably wouldn't be spending enough on battle passes/whatever to make it worth their time. To be cynical, I wonder if it's less the total number of Mac players and more the amount of money earned from those players. Stands to reason anyone that didn't buy a specialized gaming rig is going to be more of a casual player.
Looks cool but unfortunately the only games I'd be really interested to play are the more modern ones my friends are playing, my understanding is the copy protection etc always gets tripped up by Wine.
Thanks to Valve investing a ton into proton (wine, dxvk, vkd3d) copy protection are usually no longer an issue.
The problem is kernel-level anti cheat like EAC, BattleEye, Vanguard and EA's AC. The first two work flawlessly (on Linux) if the developer enables support for Linux (Halo, Apex Legends).
That said, I probably wouldn't be spending enough on battle passes/whatever to make it worth their time. To be cynical, I wonder if it's less the total number of Mac players and more the amount of money earned from those players. Stands to reason anyone that didn't buy a specialized gaming rig is going to be more of a casual player.