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Sad news for fans of action platformers, as Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night for Linux has been officially cancelled.

Bloodstained was crowdfunded on Kickstarter back in June of 2015, with that they managed to gain $5.5 million dollars. During the campaign, they confirmed Linux was going to be a supported platform, they even told us they were aiming for a simultaneous release.

However, that's all changed now. Sharing the news in a Kickstarter update posted today, they said this:

In this update, we have a very important announcement to make.  Bloodstained will no longer be supported on Mac and Linux. We have made this tough decision due to challenges of supporting middleware and online feature support and making sure we deliver on the rest of the scope for the game. We will be offering backers who planned to play the game on Mac and Linux the option to change the platform of their order. If you would like to change your platform, please send an email with your new platform request from the email address associated with your Kickstarter pledge. We sincerely apologize for this inconvenience and we hope for your understanding.

So not only are they cancelling the Linux version, they're seemingly not offering a refund and only allowing you the option to change your platform. I had to wipe my glasses and read it again to be sure! A refund simply isn't mentioned, only the chance to change your platform.

I didn't personally fund this one, so I don't have any personal grudges or anything like that. Even so, I find this extremely poor, to put it rather lightly. I just can't believe my eyes, given they had over eleven times their original funding goal!

I've added it to our dedicated page tracking individual crowdfunding projects, with 150 projects that puts individual projects that promise Linux support at around 89% that deliver.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Shmerl Dec 27, 2018
Looks like it suffered from the feature creep. What kind of middleware are they using that doesn't support Linux? That must be something very fishy these days.

Good thing I didn't back this one.


Last edited by Shmerl on 27 December 2018 at 8:45 pm UTC
GodofGrunts Dec 27, 2018
Not offering a refund is a super shitty thing to do for those people who initially supported it for Linux and OS X.
julkip Dec 27, 2018
In retrospect I am so glad I missed the kickstarter for this by a week. Usually I would have backed a game like this. But once again the message is: NO PREORDERS!
Tuxee Dec 27, 2018
I really like the wording: "inconvenience". I can't play a game at all (and paid money for that). How "inconvenient". I assume it is fitting to call the developers "incompetent". Or should they be called "scammers"?
StenPett Dec 27, 2018
This is precisely why I stopped backing games on Kickstarter and the like. Still waiting for my Linux copy of Carmageddon...
Shmerl Dec 27, 2018
But once again the message is: NO PREORDERS!

This isn't the message though. Backing crowdfunding is OK in general. It's not a pre-order. But the hard part is to trust these developers not to mess up things like it happened here. I suppose nothing guarantees that, it's always a risk.


Last edited by Shmerl on 27 December 2018 at 9:02 pm UTC
Whitewolfe80 Dec 27, 2018
MMM So no refunds just more of this come on guys dont you own a good platform type of mentality that some developers have. We are not out of 2018 yet and this just more bad news in a year of terrible cancellations and delays for previously promised linux games. Should be used to it by now, maybe time to become a console peasant esh doesnt appeal but better than going back to dual booting.
cxpher@gmail.com Dec 27, 2018
No point supporting crowdfunded games tbh.

Most of them promise you things like this and take your money, then corner you into living with the decision they take not to deliver on those promises later.

There's a word for it actually. It's called 'scam'.

Don't get scammed. Buy games that have official Linux support or at least effectively show support for Steam Proton. Heck don't even do early access if you can help it.

The rest of these scumbags can go fuck themselves.

PS : Interesting how said 'middleware' can work on the Nintendo Switch. Mac and Linux users simply got the shaft. That's all. They took the opportunity to scam.


Last edited by cxpher@gmail.com on 27 December 2018 at 9:06 pm UTC
FutureSuture Dec 27, 2018
What the actual heck? There goes my purchase of the game at full price. This was my most anticipated game (and not just Metroidvania) by far. I am a massive fan of the genre so this is a major disappointment. Good thing I stay the heck away from Kickstarter and other crowdfunding websites like it.
Whitewolfe80 Dec 27, 2018
What the actual heck? There goes my purchase of the game at full price. This was my most anticipated game (and not just Metroidvania) by far. I am a massive fan of the genre so this is a major disappointment. Good thing I stay the heck away from Kickstarter and other crowdfunding websites like it.

The thing is the warning was there because the two 8 bit style prequels they released arent supported on linux either they play fine through lutris or steamplay but no native support.
musojon74 Dec 27, 2018
Very very poor on their behalf, especially given that amount of funding received. Unfortunately as Kickstarter is basically investment, you get no automatic refund. These guys should really offer it however. Definitely a dev team to blacklist.
elmapul Dec 27, 2018
FUCK
the 3 games that i wanted to play the most ...
Might n9: Floped
Yooka Laylee : Floped
Blood Stained: linux version canceled.

FUUUUCK
Alm888 Dec 27, 2018
Looks like it suffered from the feature creep.
Some say it suffered from funds embezzlement and overextended timeline. :)

FUCK
the 3 games that i wanted to play the most ...
Might n9: Floped
Yooka Laylee : Floped
Blood Stained: linux version canceled.

FUUUUCK

The fun part is that "Mighty No. 9" is actually a successful project. Some say it was a disaster but, honestly, it is just a "not-so-stellar-as-fans-hoped" game. Personally I enjoyed it. :)


Last edited by Alm888 on 27 December 2018 at 9:35 pm UTC
Avehicle7887 Dec 27, 2018
This is a clear sign that Mac and Linux were always an afterthought. This will go into my book of never buy this game, regardless of price.
ssokolow Dec 27, 2018
Since nobody else seems to have mentioned it, this sort of thing is apparently against Kickstarter's terms of service.

https://www.kickstarter.com/blog/accountability-on-kickstarter

That said, they're effectively worthless. In my experience, since Kickstarter already got their cut, they just remain silent and wait for the backers to give up.

This sort of thing is the reason I stopped backing things years ago. (Though not long enough ago to pass up this game, sadly.)
Shmerl Dec 27, 2018
This sort of thing is the reason I stopped backing things years ago. (Though not long enough ago to pass up this game, sadly.)

I didn't stop backing, but I only select the base tier now (i.e. just the game). In the past I used to select game + soundtrack at least, but this has backfired more than once now, when despite offering the game through GOG, they don't provide the soundtrack there (or Bandcamp which I'd accept too), but through some Backerit download or who knows what other method. It's just safer to buy soundtrack separately later.

Other blunders are cases of promised DRM-free releases that never materialized (at least yet). Such as Insomina: the Ark and Underworld Ascendant.


Last edited by Shmerl on 27 December 2018 at 9:50 pm UTC
Alm888 Dec 27, 2018
This sort of thing is the reason I stopped backing things years ago. (Though not long enough ago to pass up this game, sadly.)

I didn't stop backing, but I only select the base tier now (i.e. just the game). In the past I used to select game + soundtrack at least, but this has backfired more than once now, when despite offering the game through GOG, they don't provide the soundtrack there (or Bandcamp which I'd accept too), but through some Backerit download or who knows what other method. It's just safer to buy soundtrack separately later.

Other blunders are cases of promised DRM-free releases that never materialized (at least yet). Such as Insomina: the Ark and Underworld Ascendant.
+ Click to view long quote

Paying for soundtrack is dumb, IMO. If one owns a right to use a game, then (s)he is also allowed to use its components (modding, creating screenshots, listening to its music etc. ).
There are other, reasons not to support above the basic level: few developers provide "early access" for Linux and I've yet to see a game developer that does this for DRM-free versions (well, "ATOM RPG" creators kinda did that but very poorly and with substantial lag in time so any meaningful feedback on bugs was impossible).
ssokolow Dec 27, 2018
I didn't stop backing, but I only select the base tier now (i.e. just the game).

I've never seen a base tier that satisfies my policy of only paying "$5 US or less for Windows-only games... unless it's a GOG sale exceeding a 75% discount, in which case I'll consider going higher".

Other blunders are cases of promised DRM-free releases that never materialized (at least yet). Such as Insomina: the Ark and Underworld Ascendant.

I also backed Underworld Ascendant before I stopped backing things, and contacted them when they said that. They assured me that they still intend to come to GOG, that the Steam-downloadable version doesn't require Steam to run, and it's just delayed, so I'm willing to put my outrage on "snooze" for a while.

(That said, I plan to spin up the copy of steamcmd in a VirtualBox VM that I use for downloading ROMs and ScummVM resources which are missing from the DRM-free sides of Humble Bundles, so I can verify that statement and, if it's true, archive a few copies in case they renege.)

Paying for soundtrack is dumb, IMO. If one owns a right to use a game, then (s)he is also allowed to use its components (modding, creating screenshots, listening to its music etc. ).

Agreed. I keep copies of UnXWB, Unity Assets Explorer, and so on at the ready as a matter of principle.


Last edited by ssokolow on 27 December 2018 at 10:03 pm UTC
Shmerl Dec 27, 2018
Paying for soundtrack is dumb, IMO.

I usually try to extract the soundtrack from games, as you can see in some scripts I posted here (see older pages there as well).

However, games naturally usually ship sound with lossy codec (no reason to use lossless), and I always like to get it in lossless FLAC as well, which I usually encode in Opus for playback. So I don't mind paying for lossless release at all. But I prefer it to be provided through some convenient stores like GOG and Bandcamp.


Last edited by Shmerl on 27 December 2018 at 10:16 pm UTC
Luke_Nukem Dec 27, 2018
This sounds exactly the same as... countless other successful kickstarters.
But it sounds very much like one in particular, just can't remember the name of the game.
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