Mac App Notarization

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Another road-block on the way to release...

Starting October 14th, 2019 Steam will require all new macOS Applications to be 64-bit and notarized by Apple. If your Mac application already supports 64-bit, please login to Steamworks and select the "macOS -> 64 Bit Binaries Included" checkbox in the "Supported Operating Systems" section for your application. This will ensure that your macOS app will appear as compatible for users who are running Steam on macOS 10.15.

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So I need to "notarize" EVERY Mac build Facepalm

MacOS was the most unfriendly platform I released my previous VN for on Steam. That was back in 2016, and they've made things worse! Notarization is another complicated build step I have to set up and maintain in my automated builds, and notarizing requires a $100 payment to Apple every year. What the hell does Apple need more of my money for? Honestly a horrible shakedown.

For my own convenience, because I hate Apple's business practices, and because games are known not to sell well enough to Mac users to justify the cost of porting, I wouldn't do a Mac build at all. (Microsoft is also terrible, greedy, and the worst, but it's still easier to publish on Windows and you can actually make a profit doing so.)

The three problems that compel me to publish on MacOS are this:

1. I strongly believe my work should be accessible to EVERYONE. A lot of people don't have access to a Windows or Linux PC.
2. I have family members who are locked into the Apple ecosystem, and my family are my biggest fans. If I can't get my work in front of my biggest fans, I'm toast.
3. I could just build for the Web, but you can't release or monetize an HTML/js game on Steam. I think Steam is (regrettably) the best market for my work, so...

I paid the $100 and I'm now trying to get the notarization working. I'm following this guide for doing that automatically in GitHub actions (thanks Federico Terzi!) and my fingers are crossed.