After a long road, the waiting on We Happy Few for both Linux and Mac is about to come to an end. Not the happiest of endings either.
Originally funded on Kickstarter back in 2015 for $334,754 CA, Linux and Mac support was then announced for We Happy Few after the campaign had started. In 2017, it was announced that Compulsion Games teamed up with Gearbox Publishing to complete it.
Later in 2017 Compulsion Games announced work had begun on the ports, the whole game then had a delay and then Compulsion Games joined Microsoft in June of 2018 although they did confirmed then a Linux version was still happening.
Yesterday, they finally gave an update on what's been happening. The post on Kickstarter mentions that they "haven't reached a quality level that we are comfortable with" and they will not be selling or advertising a Linux or Mac version. However, they will offer a full refund to Linux/Mac backers and give out an unofficial Beta version as you will get to keep your copy even with the refund. They also said it will likely run slower than the Windows version, although on Linux it was said that Proton/Steam Play might be faster.
This Beta version for Linux was due with the 1.9 update released yesterday, although going by SteamDB it's not clear if that's actually happened yet and they've not said anything on it being released just yet.
After waiting so long, this is a real shame but they've handled this in a vastly better way than most other developers when they've been unable to do what they promised.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Okay, if it works better with Steam Play/Proton then I'd personally be fine with it... as long as I can play it, but it makes the work and effort put into the native version more or less useless... blessing or curse.
I'm wondering though, was the rating of the game not that great in the beginning? But with overall rating mostly positive and even recent reviews even very positive I might give it a shot.
Last edited by Corben on 12 Nov 2019 at 9:49 am UTC
rustybroomhandle 12 Nov 2019
Last edited by Botonoski on 12 Nov 2019 at 12:59 pm UTC
I suppose it has improved a lot since the August 2018 release, but it seems to remain slow, buggy and boring still. Also rocking a fat 60€ pricetag for the base game, or 92€ if you want the DLC's. Yeah, that's correct. Plural.
This isn't the era of 'fix the game first'... :(
I feel that Microsoft itself is growing closer and closer to straight up gutting Windows 10 and replacing the internals with some kinda Linux-Windows backward-compatible hybrid monstrosity, though that may just be my imagination/bizare-fantasy. If that were to happen I gotta wonder how long, if ever, would it take for devs to move away from the compatibility layer and go full native.
They started by creating a IoT OS that is using Linux kernel, so it's not a fantasy anymore.
Last edited by Zlopez on 12 Nov 2019 at 11:10 am UTC
I was hoping for a Bioshock experience.
I think we all hoped for. Bioshock series really neat the whole "dystopian society" theme.
Luckily the game turned out to be pretty crappy anyways, so it's not a big loss. For a long time I was hoping for a Bioshock experience.
You were hoping for a shitty, dumbed-down System Shock clone?
I think this might set a precedent for kickstarter campaigns. Make lofty goals of Mac and Linux releases, and then go back on those goals with refunds later. If only people kept their promises, eh.On our tracker, it's not often this actually happens. Out of the 220 finished projects we're listing, 31 (including this) are marked as Failed on the Linux side of it. At least 7+ of those are from the developer vanishing. Compared to the hundreds crowdfunding has given us, it's still doing good. Some of those games that came as a result of crowdfunding are awesome too.
Edits: Had the finished number wrong, a few more successful projects released for Linux - updated.
Last edited by Liam Dawe on 12 Nov 2019 at 2:45 pm UTC
On our tracker, it's not often this actually happens. Out of the 220 finished projects we're listing, 31 (including this) are marked as Failed on the Linux side of it. At least 7+ of those are from the developer vanishing. Compared to the hundreds crowdfunding has given us, it's still doing good. Some of those games that came as a result of crowdfunding are awesome too.
Can I see in the tracker if it failed generally or only for Linux (and Mac, maybe)?
You were hoping for a shitty, dumbed-down System Shock clone?
If that's how you want to describe one of my favourite franchises of all time, go right ahead.
I think we all hoped for. Bioshock series really neat the whole "dystopian society" theme.
Especially the first game had an amazing atmosphere, man how I loved to explore and unwrap the stories in there.
One of my all time favourites.
Mohandevir 12 Nov 2019
We are not the happy few...
Tought the same... In those lines: "Us Disappointed Many" :)
Last edited by Shmerl on 12 Nov 2019 at 4:27 pm UTC
I suspect the "quality" is about something more than just performance. Because UE4 running slower on Mac and Linux is not exactly a surprise.Since i don't use Windows, can you post some evidence of that?
I'm getting my money back and I get to keep the game.
GOG users are getting shorted, because the Linux beta won't show up at GOG, but, it sounds like using Proton / WINE is the better way anyways.
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