The Witcher 3 is something Linux users have been practically begging to have, but the problem is that it seems it will likely never come to Linux. An ex-Virtual Programming developer has taken to reddit explaining why this may have happened.
I should stress, for our own record here that this is not the official word from Virtual Programming or CD Projekt RED. This is the personal opinion of an ex-VP developer.
Here's the issue: The Linux version of The Witcher 2 was released in a poor state, it had poor performance and just didn't really work well at all. It was later fixed-up and last time I tried it, the performance was absolutely fine for me. The real problem, is the amount of hate that was sent towards the porters Virtual Programming and directly to CD Projekt RED as well. Even I personally saw some of the hate that was sent their way and it was downright idiotic and absolutely uncalled for.
I will absolutely hold my hands up as well, I made mistakes around it since I simply didn't know enough at the time, and to be honest three years ago I was still learning a lot about everything. I later corrected what I said, as I always aim to.
Writing on reddit, this developer said (source):
It seems we may have also seen a port of The Witcher 1 as well, as the developer also said (source):
There's also this post from another user, who said at the time The Witcher 2 released for Linux, CDProjekt apparently lost a fair amount on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. Apparently due to such a big backlash from the community about the initial release quality. I haven't verified that myself, but if true it would certainly make CDProjekt rather against doing another Linux port with anyone.
This is sad, really sad. I hope this makes a few people reconsider their attitude when talking to developer about the performance of ports. Performance can be worked on and fixed, burnt bridges are harder (and sometimes impossible) to fix.
This reminds me of the time the Blizzard President responded to a small petition asking for Linux ports of their games. The response to the petition was really nice to see from such a big company and truthfully the response I fully expected, but the original statement in reply to it from the petition author (now deleted by the author, but captured in my article) was downright childish and idiotic.
Yes problems are annoying, but throwing insults around helps no one and yes it does make us look bad. I get where people are coming from, to an extent, since some games do end up getting left in a terribly broken state for a long time and sometimes forever. However, in this case VP did good and continued working and now, as stated previously, The Witcher 2 seems fine. Their others ports are generally pretty decent too.
I just hope in future that this developer who got a massive amount of hate and CD Projekt RED can look past it somehow, for all the fans of their franchise on Linux.
Note: I personally spoke to this developer about publishing this with their approval, in the hopes that it might get a few people to re-think their initial attitude towards problems in games. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
I should stress, for our own record here that this is not the official word from Virtual Programming or CD Projekt RED. This is the personal opinion of an ex-VP developer.
Here's the issue: The Linux version of The Witcher 2 was released in a poor state, it had poor performance and just didn't really work well at all. It was later fixed-up and last time I tried it, the performance was absolutely fine for me. The real problem, is the amount of hate that was sent towards the porters Virtual Programming and directly to CD Projekt RED as well. Even I personally saw some of the hate that was sent their way and it was downright idiotic and absolutely uncalled for.
I will absolutely hold my hands up as well, I made mistakes around it since I simply didn't know enough at the time, and to be honest three years ago I was still learning a lot about everything. I later corrected what I said, as I always aim to.
Writing on reddit, this developer said (source):
QuoteI agree, things were not right on release... but the vocality of people went way beyond that. It was an all out hate campaign against VP, against CDPR for "lying about the port being native". I attempted to help people out in my own time and got absolutely roasted and abused for it.
The community needs to realise it simply cannot justify this sort of behaviour if they want to convince devs and publishers to support them. There is no excuse.
It seems we may have also seen a port of The Witcher 1 as well, as the developer also said (source):
QuoteThe vitriol was unbelievable. Yes we messed up the performance on release but we put it right. However a huge hate campaign ensued. Both VP and CDPR got lots of vengeful hate mail sent to them. I cannot help but feel this damaged CDPR's view of the Linux platform irrevocably.
They certainly didnt blame us, because they had us work on a Mac port of Witcher 1 to replace the non-functioning Wineskin version. The same port would have ran on Linux too with very little extra work, but they were not interested in releasing it.
There's also this post from another user, who said at the time The Witcher 2 released for Linux, CDProjekt apparently lost a fair amount on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. Apparently due to such a big backlash from the community about the initial release quality. I haven't verified that myself, but if true it would certainly make CDProjekt rather against doing another Linux port with anyone.
This is sad, really sad. I hope this makes a few people reconsider their attitude when talking to developer about the performance of ports. Performance can be worked on and fixed, burnt bridges are harder (and sometimes impossible) to fix.
This reminds me of the time the Blizzard President responded to a small petition asking for Linux ports of their games. The response to the petition was really nice to see from such a big company and truthfully the response I fully expected, but the original statement in reply to it from the petition author (now deleted by the author, but captured in my article) was downright childish and idiotic.
Yes problems are annoying, but throwing insults around helps no one and yes it does make us look bad. I get where people are coming from, to an extent, since some games do end up getting left in a terribly broken state for a long time and sometimes forever. However, in this case VP did good and continued working and now, as stated previously, The Witcher 2 seems fine. Their others ports are generally pretty decent too.
I just hope in future that this developer who got a massive amount of hate and CD Projekt RED can look past it somehow, for all the fans of their franchise on Linux.
Note: I personally spoke to this developer about publishing this with their approval, in the hopes that it might get a few people to re-think their initial attitude towards problems in games. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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The comments on this article are closed.
Quoting: GuestI've patched my comment for you)Quoting: UrgickHere's no place for the drama like this, seriously guys. It's a business. Everyone should be prepared for the stuff like this. I've heard that someone thrown bad fries in the face to McDonald's employer, but that's doesn't mean that Mc will start blocking this person or employer will never serve fries for him again, they will start from the cause, will make fries better. It's really silly behaviour.
Here's what would happen in my country - that customer would be banned from McDonalds, and likely arrested and charged with assault.
Here's no place for the drama like this, seriously guys. It's a business. Everyone should be prepared for the stuff like this. It's really silly behaviour. And we are happy)
0 Likes
elbuglione Jul 5, 2017
We could organize a boycott where we would massify hundreds of negative notes for The Witcher 3 on Steam, claiming for the version of SteamOS that never came ...
See the results of similar campaigns, such as "GTA V" and its MODs.
At the same time, we could organize a positive rain on The Witcher 2 on Linux, because its current Linux Port works perfectly.
See the results of similar campaigns, such as "GTA V" and its MODs.
At the same time, we could organize a positive rain on The Witcher 2 on Linux, because its current Linux Port works perfectly.
2 Likes, Who?
It's a shame we haven't got a port of Witcher 3 but "it's no big deal" - Just live with it.
You have a few choices:
- Don't buy it at all and forget about it, because it isn't on Linux.
- Buy it and play it using WINE on Linux.
- Buy it and play it on Windows, if you love the game so much. ( I did that for "DOOM" )
There is a huge count of alternative games that have Linux ports. Enjoy them, buy them and "show the love" back to Linux-supporting developers. More than 3000 Linux games on Steam. WOOHOO!!!
It is a waste of time, bemoaning the situation. During the recent Steam Summer Sale, I've loaded up on 10 more native Linux games beyond my previous collection.
No, you shouldn't vilify CD Projekt Red for not releasing on Linux. It's just childish and won't improve the situation.
Meanwhile enjoy Witcher 2 - which does have a full Linux release.
Last edited by g000h on 5 July 2017 at 4:32 pm UTC
You have a few choices:
- Don't buy it at all and forget about it, because it isn't on Linux.
- Buy it and play it using WINE on Linux.
- Buy it and play it on Windows, if you love the game so much. ( I did that for "DOOM" )
There is a huge count of alternative games that have Linux ports. Enjoy them, buy them and "show the love" back to Linux-supporting developers. More than 3000 Linux games on Steam. WOOHOO!!!
It is a waste of time, bemoaning the situation. During the recent Steam Summer Sale, I've loaded up on 10 more native Linux games beyond my previous collection.
No, you shouldn't vilify CD Projekt Red for not releasing on Linux. It's just childish and won't improve the situation.
Meanwhile enjoy Witcher 2 - which does have a full Linux release.
Last edited by g000h on 5 July 2017 at 4:32 pm UTC
3 Likes, Who?
elbuglione Jul 5, 2017
Quoting: g000hIt's a shame we haven't got a port of Witcher 3 but "it's no big deal" - Just live with it.
You have a few choices:
- Don't buy it at all and forget about it, because it isn't on Linux.
- Buy it and play it using WINE on Linux.
- Buy it and play it on Windows, if you love the game so much. ( I did that for "DOOM" )
There is a huge count of alternative games that have Linux ports. Enjoy them, buy them and "show the love" back to Linux-supporting developers. More than 3000 Linux games on Steam. WOOHOO!!!
It is a waste of time, bemoaning the situation. During the recent Steam Summer Sale, I've loaded up on 10 more native Linux games beyond my previous collection.
No, you shouldn't vilify CD Projekt Red for not releasing on Linux. It's just childish and won't improve the situation.
Meanwhile enjoy Witcher 2 - which does have a full Linux release.
If you are comfortable with your purchase, you should not make any complaints about it ...
But, I'm pretty sure that more than one consumer (especially GamingOnLinux users) bought The Witcher 3, because The Witcher 3 was advertised for SteamOS.
I do not see any complaints from Linux users, against RockStar for not having delivered GTA V for Linux ... that's so, because RockStar never promised anything.
THOSE ARE THE FACTS.
3 Likes, Who?
elbuglione Jul 5, 2017
I repeat
I think @Liamdawe and @Shmerl are the ones to organize this massive complaint on Steam.
Quoting: elbuglioneWe could organize a boycott where we would massify hundreds of negative notes for The Witcher 3 on Steam, claiming for the version of SteamOS that never came ...
See the results of similar campaigns, such as "GTA V" and its MODs.
At the same time, we could organize a positive rain on The Witcher 2 on Linux, because its current Linux Port works perfectly.
I think @Liamdawe and @Shmerl are the ones to organize this massive complaint on Steam.
0 Likes
omg 250+ messages, i didn't read lol.
I just had to write something on this big comment thread :P
I just had to write something on this big comment thread :P
0 Likes
Quoting: elbuglioneWe could organize a boycott where we would massify hundreds of negative notes for The Witcher 3 on Steam, claiming for the version of SteamOS that never came ...
See the results of similar campaigns, such as "GTA V" and its MODs.
At the same time, we could organize a positive rain on The Witcher 2 on Linux, because its current Linux Port works perfectly.
Quoting: elbuglioneI think @Liamdawe and @Shmerl are the ones to organize this massive complaint on Steam.
I'm not using Steam. Anyway, instead of negative reactions, it's better to provide positive ones. See here:
* https://www.gog.com/wishlist/games/to_cd_projekt_red_bring_witcher_3_and_your_other_games_to_linux_please
* https://www.gog.com/wishlist/games/cyberpunk_2077_on_linux
So vote, and spread the word.
Last edited by Shmerl on 5 July 2017 at 4:56 pm UTC
0 Likes
Quoting: GuestYep, ballot stuffing is really going to help you. CDPR and Valve would be able to quickly identify the votes, what they are for, and remove them.
GOG pay attention to their wishlist. CDPR can too.
Last edited by Shmerl on 5 July 2017 at 5:05 pm UTC
0 Likes
Quoting: elbuglioneWe could organize a boycott where we would massify hundreds of negative notes for The Witcher 3 on Steam, claiming for the version of SteamOS that never came ...
See the results of similar campaigns, such as "GTA V" and its MODs.
At the same time, we could organize a positive rain on The Witcher 2 on Linux, because its current Linux Port works perfectly.
Damn I really like your plan. The plan to show that we are not that small as they are think, and we could mess reviews up :D
1 Likes, Who?
The Internet is a reflection of the ( mostly ) global society, so unfortunately it includes those that are hateful, stupid and immature, as well as those that are polite, helpful and reasonable.
Without significant effort, you can't always tell whether an on-line persona spouting vitriol is genuine, or is acting as if a member of a group to tarnish that group's reputation; certainly, issues like GamerGate, and the direct abuse that jaycee describes suggest there are some individuals out there with profound mental problems.
Nonetheless, I have doubts that Internet ranting would have, in itself, caused the cancellation of TW3 on Linux; although if there were doubts about proceeding, it might have tipped the balance or strengthened the negative arguments.
Neither do I see the stock price related argument Liam linked to as credible. Firstly, you do not construct a balance sheet by including stock price movements, secondly TW3 on Linux was still a possibility a year later, and finally, there were actually no significant stock movements for CDPR on the Warsaw exchange in 2014. It was a quiet year in their dev cycle while they were ramping up for TW3. TW2 for Linux boosted revenue in a year when they actually reduced headcount in Poland, presumably to control costs in a low revenue year ( these are based on Warsaw stock exchange public data and filing ).
However, I do see parallels between TW3 and another significant Linux under-achievement. Both CDPR and CA seem to have had good discussions with Valve and made early positive statements about supporting SteamOS/Linux.
In the case of CA, older Total War games were already available on the Mac through Feral, and we now have almost all of the back catalog available for Linux. However, CA promised to update the "current" iteration of their engine ( Rome2 and Attila ) without seeming to realize how hard it would be for them to do this internally. Two years later, we have Attila but not Rome2, and ( for me anyway ) it is the least playable Total War game. It also seems they are not maintaining a Linux branch of their engine as Feral have provided the Total War-Warhammer versions for Linux.
The parallel with CDPR is their apparent intent to provide TW3 for Linux by making RedEngine cross platform and provide development tools for 3rd party use. For whatever reason ( likely the cost vs predicted revenue ), they abandoned the RedEngine port, and it is my guess that with it went TW3 for Linux.
The lack of a Linux version of RedEngine also probably means no Linux version of Cyberpunk 2077. As Cyberpunk 2077 is already in the asset and subsystem creation stage ( at a guess, 2H 2018 release ), and they are using a multiplayer-enabled version of RedEngine with additional capabilities like vehicles, I would be surprised if the engine also adds Linux or Vulkan support.
This does not mean TW3 will never be ported as a stand-alone game; just that there is not enough justification at the moment. And they could yet surprise us and include Linux in the new RedEngine...
Without significant effort, you can't always tell whether an on-line persona spouting vitriol is genuine, or is acting as if a member of a group to tarnish that group's reputation; certainly, issues like GamerGate, and the direct abuse that jaycee describes suggest there are some individuals out there with profound mental problems.
Nonetheless, I have doubts that Internet ranting would have, in itself, caused the cancellation of TW3 on Linux; although if there were doubts about proceeding, it might have tipped the balance or strengthened the negative arguments.
Neither do I see the stock price related argument Liam linked to as credible. Firstly, you do not construct a balance sheet by including stock price movements, secondly TW3 on Linux was still a possibility a year later, and finally, there were actually no significant stock movements for CDPR on the Warsaw exchange in 2014. It was a quiet year in their dev cycle while they were ramping up for TW3. TW2 for Linux boosted revenue in a year when they actually reduced headcount in Poland, presumably to control costs in a low revenue year ( these are based on Warsaw stock exchange public data and filing ).
However, I do see parallels between TW3 and another significant Linux under-achievement. Both CDPR and CA seem to have had good discussions with Valve and made early positive statements about supporting SteamOS/Linux.
In the case of CA, older Total War games were already available on the Mac through Feral, and we now have almost all of the back catalog available for Linux. However, CA promised to update the "current" iteration of their engine ( Rome2 and Attila ) without seeming to realize how hard it would be for them to do this internally. Two years later, we have Attila but not Rome2, and ( for me anyway ) it is the least playable Total War game. It also seems they are not maintaining a Linux branch of their engine as Feral have provided the Total War-Warhammer versions for Linux.
The parallel with CDPR is their apparent intent to provide TW3 for Linux by making RedEngine cross platform and provide development tools for 3rd party use. For whatever reason ( likely the cost vs predicted revenue ), they abandoned the RedEngine port, and it is my guess that with it went TW3 for Linux.
The lack of a Linux version of RedEngine also probably means no Linux version of Cyberpunk 2077. As Cyberpunk 2077 is already in the asset and subsystem creation stage ( at a guess, 2H 2018 release ), and they are using a multiplayer-enabled version of RedEngine with additional capabilities like vehicles, I would be surprised if the engine also adds Linux or Vulkan support.
This does not mean TW3 will never be ported as a stand-alone game; just that there is not enough justification at the moment. And they could yet surprise us and include Linux in the new RedEngine...
6 Likes, Who?
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