Guild Wars 2 for the Mac Without Re-downloading the Whole Game

Today, ArenaNet announced Guild Wars 2 for the Mac (beta).  As excited as I was for that announcement, I wasn’t looking forward to downloading the client all over again.  With some digging, I discovered that I could simply copy my GW2.dat file from my windows installation to the mac install.  Here’s how:

  1. Make your Windows client GW2.dat file available some how (mine is on an external drive)
  2. Download the Mac client.
  3. Run the installer.
  4. When the login window/downloader shows its ugly face, close the window.
  5. In your Finder window, navigate to your Guild Wars 2 install.
  6. Right click the Guild Wars 2 application and select “Show Package Contents”.
  7. Navigate to: Contents > Resources > transgaming > c_drive > GW2
  8. Copy your GW2.dat file from step 1 over the top of the GW2.dat file in the Finder window.
  9. Run the game and it’ll download any updates!

Easy!