Every fact on this page applies to update 1.0.5, the one version tested. Other versions may behave differently.
No emulator needed: Batman: Arkham Knight runs natively on the Apple chip. How nxnative compares with emulators
Running through nxnative
How Batman: Arkham Knight runs
Batman: Arkham Knight plays on the Mac at 30 fps, as on the Switch. Tested from an empty save through the language screen, the title, New Story, the opening cutscene and the cremation scene, and into Pauli's Diner as Officer Owens, walking and looking around there. No iPhone app has been built yet.
How it runs
Rocksteady's Unreal Engine 3 game needed more work than most. Its own memory allocator tried to reserve tens of gigabytes, so nxnative swaps in its own. Some of the game's graphics programs were missing until nxnative learned how the game shares data between them. Runs also froze as New Story loaded, from a thread timing problem that has been fixed for every game.
The first seconds in the diner are slower while new graphics are prepared, after which frames settle around 30 fps. Memory came to about 3.7 GB on the Mac.
Bring update 1.0.5
The base game is a small stub, and update 1.0.5 holds nearly all of the game, about 27 GB. Put the update in the same folder as the base game before you Pack.
Controls
The Packed app starts in the 2D touch layout. In the diner the left stick walks and the right stick turns. At the cremation prompt, hold B for several seconds; short presses do nothing.
Good to know
- Gotham beyond the diner, and saving and continuing, have not been checked.
Known issues
- It has not been tried on iPhone or iPad, and no iPhone app has been built.
Packing command
Run this in your nxnative folder on the Build Mac. Replace the game folder and the keys path with your own. Add --platform mac-app to get a Mac app instead of an iPhone and iPad app.
python3 scripts/build_ipa_from_nsp.py ~/Games/batman-arkham-knight -k ~/keys/prod.keysFAQ
Does Batman: Arkham Knight work with nxnative?
Yes. Batman: Arkham Knight is tested with nxnative on update 1.0.5.
Which iPhone, iPad or Mac do I need to play Batman: Arkham Knight?
An iPhone 15 Pro or newer (A17 Pro chip or later) or an iPad with an M1 chip or later, on iOS or iPadOS 26 or later, or a Mac with Apple silicon. iPads with the A17 Pro chip (iPad mini) have the iPhone 15 Pro's chip but are untested by nxnative. Packing needs a Mac with macOS 26.6 or later and Xcode 27.1.
Is Batman: Arkham Knight included?
No. Neither this site nor nxnative includes any game. You Pack Batman: Arkham Knight from your own copy of the game, with keys dumped from your own Switch.
Does online play work in Batman: Arkham Knight?
Online play in Batman: Arkham Knight is not confirmed to work, so do not count on it.
