A Linux Port Of Frozen Synapse Prime Is Unlikely

It's always sad to read things like this. The developer of Frozen Synapse Prime has spoken out about why there's no Linux port, and the news for us isn't exactly peachy.

It's not just sad to see, but I dislike writing about things like this. The reason I do is just to highlight the struggles we face as a platform.

The developer mentions that even with their engine already being cross-platform for both Linux & Mac they won't be doing a port.

In reply to a user being frustrated about it, the developer said this:

QuoteI really dont know how to reply to this. Put yourself in my position.

We have launched 2 PC/Mac/Linux titles, on the first we did the mac/linux versions 1 month later. It wasn't worthwhile. We thought the problem may have been the fact we didn't sim launch. On our next title we were day 1 with all 3 platforms, sales were still atrocious.

Mac/Linux account for 9% & 1% of overall sales respectively. If that 9% or 1% in revenue is not the cost of the port. we will not do it.

Every version of this game costs a fortune to QA and ready for release. Even using cross platform tools ( which we do ) and with an engine that already supports Linux/Mac. Especially given OpenGL performance is horrendous and just supporting linux after release costs a fortune.

I am not going to argue this any further. Like I said, put yourself in my position,

I am in a forum speaking honestly about my experiences, I have 12 years professional game dev experience as a game developer and engineer. I have also ran my own company for 5 years and dealt with all of the money/business affairs, whilst still getting my hands as dirty in development as usual. I have also launched 3 games on Steam and numerous others on other platforms.

Who do you think actually knows the most about this?

The developer carried on the communication some more too:

QuoteOur engine is cross platform and does support both Mac and Linux, however by the time we have solved all of the GPU driver performance issues, all the nuances full screen and controllers and all of the standard system stuff., then put through a full test and dealt with all of the edge cases. It will cost us over £30k. Quite simply we wont get it back.

For an engine that is already cross-platform, £30K for a Linux version sounds like a bit of a stretch since most of the leg-work has already been done. I'm no developer of course, but even with support costs for answering emails, dealing with distribution specific issues etc, 30K seems a bit steep.

The only light at the end of the tunnel was this:

QuoteI would quite happily hand it to anyone who was prepared to do it themselves and they can have almost everything it makes..

What do you think folks? See this forum post for the full info. Remember to be polite to the developers. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.