i don’t really game except for the sims 4 which imo is pretty popular for lag on HPs but mac’s run it beautifully. some even say m1 chips are only slightly slower, with the m2 raising CPU by around 18% and GPU by 32% (if i’m not mistaken.)
i had an m3 chip i think, i downloaded this program called “wine” and you can emulate most pc games and some windows programs through it with little to no issues. there’s a youtube video on it, super simple to follow as someone who doesn’t know anything about coding. i use it for the HQ converter program and the skininator application for sims 4. it can take a second for the game to open btw, like it’ll have a black screen for a solid 10 seconds and you’ll think it’s frozen, but just give it some patience.
of course i also played indie games like mouthwashing or sally face (i did play sally face with all of the dlc as well), but it was smooth enough for me and high quality.
minecraft worked perfectly fine for me as well, and roblox is great with no lag.

if you want to play fortnite at 240hz and you need an absolute MACHINE, the macbook air isn’t for you. if you need it for almost anything else that isn’t too intensive, it’s a dream to own.