Aspyr Media sent out a tweet today for Linux gamers stating that Civilization VI [Steam] for Linux is still possible.
This is a good sign, but we still don't have much information as to what exactly is going on. Originally the game was confirmed by the publisher to me directly, and a tweet from the official Civilization confirmed a Linux version. Then recently Aspyr Media said it was a possibility.
This new tweet doesn't offer anything new, but the fact that they are still talking about it should be taken as a good sign.
Wanted to address a section of our fans that may feel left out recently. Dear Linux users, we haven't forgotten you! CivVI is still possible
— Aspyr Media (@AspyrMedia) October 24, 2016
A developer from Aspyr Media also said this on Reddit when asked what stage it was at:
QuoteWe are still in a research state at this point. Bottom line, we need to prove to ourselves and our partners that a Linux version can perform to our standards. What I can say in ernest is, we are actively pursuing that viability standard.
I really hope Aspyr Media manage to pull through for us! Whatever the issues they are facing may be, let's hope we get such a massively popular title.
The game has currently over 100K people playing, and it's constantly sat in the top five most played games on Steam right now. To miss out on this, would be a tragedy for us.
Thanks for pointing out the tweet to me Gary.
Quoting: melkemindHold on a second now. The wording of their statement almost suggests they actually made a Linux port and it sucked, so 2K pulled the plug on it. Why else would they need to research and prove that their port can perform up to standards? Either that or the Mac port was not up to standards so 2K axed the Linux port.It depends on what they mean by "perform to our standards". Do they mean software performance, or sales performance?
Quote"$GAME will release day-one for Linux!" == $Game will release months after everyone moves on to the next big thing.
"$GAME will release for Linux!" == $GAME has non-trivial chance of being canceled... and we won't tell you anything if it is hahaha!
"Linux port of $GAME will be released in X months!" == X = number_of_times_this_announcement_was_made * 2
"We are currently assessing the viability of a Linux port!" == We're going back through the code and realizing how much vendor lock-in we got suckered into.
"$GAME is in early access for Windows and will release with Linux support!" == We are staying in early access FOREVER.
"$KICKSTARTER_GAME also plans for a Linux release!" == But it's just a stretch goal and we're only as serious about the port as you are about your love life.
That alone, makes it worth buying. Haha.
Last edited by [email protected] on 25 October 2016 at 1:15 am UTC
But more from a business perspective, Feral have been getting lots of business lately and the majority of AAA ports now seem to be coming from them instead of VP or Aspyr.
It is entirely possible that Feral is getting all the major contracts for GNU/Linux ports which is somewhat leaving the other porting houses with a lack of GNU/Linux port contracts.
So they the other porting houses may have to wind down their budgets for GNU/Linux ports, which in turn means less GNU/Linux ports from those porting houses.
Remember, Feral and Aspyr are direct competitors and it would appear at this moment in time that Feral is winning over Aspyr for contracts.
So with that information in mind, that could be why we are seeing less and less Aspyr GNU/Linux ports and more and more from Feral.
Thus, the verdict and solution here is simple:
We need you to port this game!
Last edited by MaCroX95 on 25 October 2016 at 5:14 am UTC
A long and detailed explanation why porting this game would not be worth the effort.
Please don't get me wrong. I'm not looking for justification by Aspyr, as (not?) making the port is their and their business partner's decision. I'm just curious if there are technical reasons, what those technical reasons are, and if the community can do something about them (think: fix certain bugs in the open source graphics drivers, work on missing GL extensions,...). Sadly though, I'm pretty certain that Aspyr will not be able to provide this information due to NDAs...
So if Aspyr does need more time to evaluate a Linux port, they can have it.
See more from me