New World Interactive have released a news post going over the state of Insurgency: Sandstorm, along with announcing a bunch of features no longer being made.
To cut right to the chase here's what's not going to be added into Insurgency: Sandstorm:
- Story mode/Campaign
- Mac Support
- Linux Support
- Local Play on PvP modes
- Weapons on Back
- New foregrip upgrade options
Why? Apparently nothing in that list makes "business sense". They did expand on this a little:
We did not take this decision-making process lightly; all nominated cuts have been reviewed, re-reviewed, and discussed numerous times internally. At the end of these discussions, our criteria came down to “Does this proposed content present a reasonable business case in exchange for the additional development time required to deliver these features?” and in these cases, the answer was “No.” We recognize that these were things that, at some point or another, were promised by the studio, and we apologize for mismanaging expectations. Moving forward, we will be more deliberate in our messaging and our commitments to our players. We’ve grown a lot with Insurgency: Sandstorm, and we’ve learned a lot throughout that process. These lessons will make up our future projects going forward.
New World Interactive
This is a real shame, after Insurgency: Sandstorm was originally announced back in 2016 with Linux support and a story mode it really did look exciting but New World Interactive gradually cut back on what it would contain. Still, we patiently waited only to be repeatedly let down here.
In August last year Linux was planned in the first couple updates, moving into January this year they said they were working on it and hoped to have it out this year, then in May this year they still claimed they were "committed" to Linux and macOS and then again in June they said they would likely push out a Beta version first which would happen next year. Now it's not happening at all—ouch.
Of course, this is a reminder not to buy a game before it lands on Linux. Especially a multiplayer title that relies on anti-cheat. Even if you're perfectly fine using Steam Play/Proton for everything, anti-cheat support is still likely a long way off. Support developers that support the platform. Spend your monies wisely.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Laboratoryo_ni_Neil Dec 10, 2019
Support developers that support the platform. Spend your monies wisely.
I agree.
I do buy native Linux games if I like the game, not because it's made by a developer that supports Linux. There are more Steam Play games than native Linux games in my recent purchases.
Supporting a game dev that supports Linux or has been supporting Linux for a long time is great but it's not a guarantee that the game dev will continue supporting Linux in the future. Some examples are Supergiant Games and Frozenbyte.
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I love it.mismanaging expectations
:><:
Will apply that every time I see broken promises now.
That goes right into the same drawer as "sorry that you are disappointed/angry", "surprise mechanics/gameplay", "pride and accomplishment", ...
"We are sorry for making you believe that you could trust us."
This is really quite something, a PR person deserves a pat on head here.
Given how much they cancelled, though, it seems to me this project is pretty much doomed, Linux or not.
Don't know of too many titles that had to cut so much stuff and then became a success.
Last edited by TheSHEEEP on 10 December 2019 at 1:45 pm UTC
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I have some another example like this : Eugen Systems (which have turned evil towards their own employees), made the Wargame series.
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herrorange Dec 10, 2019
I'm really disappointed here, it's an amazing game, I've played somewhat to the extent of local play with 4 bots and was really looking forward to Linux version.
Truly have to be new moto from now on... Given current pace I don't think we'll see any AAA games natively on Linux any time soon.
Such a shame...
Of course, this is a reminder not to buy a game before it lands on Linux.
Truly have to be new moto from now on... Given current pace I don't think we'll see any AAA games natively on Linux any time soon.
Such a shame...
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Truly have to be new moto from now on... Given current pace I don't think we'll see any AAA games natively on Linux any time soon.Just don't forget the ones we have gotten! Bioshock: Infinite, the Tomb Raider games, the Warhammer and Total War games, the list goes on.
Such a shame...
we apologize for mismanaging expectationsIt's more like illegal advertising, right? Their plea for forgiveness is for us to buy their next game and see how they've learned from their mistakes. They should be offering refunds. Whether a game contains a campaign or not is a pretty core feature and one that steers my buying decision.
Given how much they cancelled, though, it seems to me this project is pretty much doomed, Linux or not.That was my first thought as well. Does this game rely on community servers, or does the developer have to keep servers running? Hopefully, the game's financial stability isn't directly tied to the game staying playable.
Don't know of too many titles that had to cut so much stuff and then became a success.
Overall, I'm very disappointed. I see one of my Windows buddies play this game every now and then. We've played regular Insurgency many hours, but I can't join him in Sandstorm. I've waited a long time just to reach this sad+angry conclusion.
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A lot of disappointing news in the Linux gaming world this year :(
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A lot of disappointing news in the Linux gaming world this year :(True, but the rapid pace of development of Proton/DXVK/D9VK and Valve still cooking Linux goodies are keeping me warm and cozy.
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It must be disappointing to everyone who's been looking forward to it, but in all honesty, I'm not so bothered about cases like this. Clearly they're struggling to fund the thing, with the single-player campaign getting the chop as well, and at least they're being honest about it. Belatedly, but better late than never. What annoys me is when promised Linux support just vanishes into the ether with no explanation. (Yes, I'm looking at you, Slightly Mad and Frontier Developments...)
It always bears repeating: no Tux, no bux. In nearly 40 years of gaming ( :O ), I've only ever pre-ordered once.* And I'm pretty wary of early access too.
*Forza 4. And that was only a couple of days before release, after playing a demo. Come to think of it, in all that time I've probably only bought two or three games in the first few weeks after release, too. No offence to Liam & co., but I trust word-of-mouth far more than reviews.
It always bears repeating: no Tux, no bux. In nearly 40 years of gaming ( :O ), I've only ever pre-ordered once.* And I'm pretty wary of early access too.
*Forza 4. And that was only a couple of days before release, after playing a demo. Come to think of it, in all that time I've probably only bought two or three games in the first few weeks after release, too. No offence to Liam & co., but I trust word-of-mouth far more than reviews.
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Kimyrielle Dec 10, 2019
Yep, Valve and Microsoft have worked nicely together at hurting Linux and killing support for our platform. Valve made a real push towards Linux at first until they were bribed by a bunch of Microsoft suits that visited their headquarters a while back as reported by Michael of Phoronix. They slowed their Linux push and transformed into just helping Windows gaming, and the native releases slowed and slowed.
We're talking about the same Valve that made it possible to run most of its catalogue on Linux by just pressing a button, yes?
The proper response is No Tux No Bux. We don't get Linux support, you don't get money, the only thing they give a fuck about.
If you had 1% less money in your wallet, would you notice?
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I do have noticed that in many cases where a Linux version was prominently scrapped, there were at the same time lots of quality issues on Windows. Does anyone know if that is the case here as well?
Even Windows users should care if a promised Linux (or Mac) version is dropped.
Even Windows users should care if a promised Linux (or Mac) version is dropped.
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"We are sorry for making you believe that you could trust us."mismanaging expectations
:><:
Made my day!
(Basically every crowd-funding campaign being passionate about Linux support)
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A lot of disappointing news in the Linux gaming world this year :(
Yep, Valve and Microsoft have worked nicely together at hurting Linux and killing support for our platform. Valve made a real push towards Linux at first until they were bribed by a bunch of Microsoft suits that visited their headquarters a while back as reported by Michael of Phoronix. They slowed their Linux push and transformed into just helping Windows gaming, and the native releases slowed and slowed.
Last edited by Beamboom on 10 December 2019 at 3:43 pm UTC
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Kimyrielle Dec 10, 2019
Just want to point out that Wine has made it possible for a very long time, and I was playing most of my backlog of Windows games long before Valve got involved. Sure, Valve have invested money to improve quite a lot, but they didn't invent Wine.
In the pre-Proton, pre-DXVK days, WINE would work mostly for old games that the vast majority of people had no interest in playing anymore. DXVK was what made WINE viable for gaming again. And Valve is funding its development. Also getting anything to run in WINE involved a lot of tinkering and trial and error. I didn't even use it back then. Dual-booting was the way better approach.
And to try be objective, Valve only went with GNU/Linux investments as a way to not be entirely under Microsoft's thumb. Valve are doing it out of self-interest (and I'll also point out that being able to do that with GNU/Linux is a great thing, and a sign of the power of a truly open operating system and platform) - and the moment some of the threat from Microsoft disappeared, it did indeed look like Valve scaled back on GNU/Linux efforts.
That's correct. They are a business, not a charity. But as far as I understand it, the temporary lapse was because Steam Machines were an epic fail, and they needed to come up with something else. I suppose that's why they went down the alternative route with Proton. It looks as if they are still committed to Linux. To me, at least.
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I have technically the highest respect for Proton and the like.
Yet, I see it as big problem for native Linux gaming and danger for AAA Linux gaming as a whole.
What if we will see a new Direct3D or similar API which will be widely adopted
and no old renderer is supported by most devs?
Now imagine this new API is - for whatever reason (maybe by intention) - extremely hard to reverse engineer and map to Vulkan/OpenGL? Hence, a well supported Proton/WINE layer is not available or will take years until it barely runs.
If the Linux gaming ecosystem with many devs providing native builds that emerged over the last years and now sadly seem to decline fast, is more or less gone - we have a problem.
First world problems, fair enough.
But still.
Saying that and considering the special role Valve has, I'd be very sad if "official" Linux support for HL:Alyx will be provided through being whitelisted for Proton.
Mark my words.
Last edited by sub on 10 December 2019 at 4:20 pm UTC
Yet, I see it as big problem for native Linux gaming and danger for AAA Linux gaming as a whole.
What if we will see a new Direct3D or similar API which will be widely adopted
and no old renderer is supported by most devs?
Now imagine this new API is - for whatever reason (maybe by intention) - extremely hard to reverse engineer and map to Vulkan/OpenGL? Hence, a well supported Proton/WINE layer is not available or will take years until it barely runs.
If the Linux gaming ecosystem with many devs providing native builds that emerged over the last years and now sadly seem to decline fast, is more or less gone - we have a problem.
First world problems, fair enough.
But still.
Saying that and considering the special role Valve has, I'd be very sad if "official" Linux support for HL:Alyx will be provided through being whitelisted for Proton.
Mark my words.
Last edited by sub on 10 December 2019 at 4:20 pm UTC
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Kimyrielle Dec 10, 2019
Yep, Valve and Microsoft have worked nicely together at hurting Linux and killing support for our platform. Valve made a real push towards Linux at first until they were bribed by a bunch of Microsoft suits that visited their headquarters a while back as reported by Michael of Phoronix. They slowed their Linux push and transformed into just helping Windows gaming, and the native releases slowed and slowed.
We're talking about the same Valve that made it possible to run most of its catalogue on Linux by just pressing a button, yes?
The proper response is No Tux No Bux. We don't get Linux support, you don't get money, the only thing they give a fuck about.
If you had 1% less money in your wallet, would you notice?
Glad to see the site full of Windows gamers bashing Linux gaming as usual, ensuring we stay the 1% by encouraging Windows gaming.
Carry on telling everyone here that as paying customers they don't deserve support for running games on Linux like other gamers get to enjoy on their OS.
I am not sure what you smoked this morning, but I have been using Linux since 1998. That I am not subscribing to your ridiculous conspiracy theory doesn't mean that I am Windows fangirl.
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no campaign? I mean, no linux support can be workarounded with proton (sorry mac users), but I like campaigns
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So....console they can do, but Mac and GNU/Linux they can't? By now, after so much repeating over the years, any developer who is targeting multi-platform should know to use the proper libraries at the start. They should know to look at the start, and it becomes very easy to do later on.I don't entirely disagree, but it is what it is. They didn't set out using proper, standard, libraries, and now have to choose: console or Mac/Linux. It's no contest: consoles provide a much better return on investment.
I suspect this is a case of the company biting off more than it can chew, and the shiny neon lights of continued monetisationscamstechniques with current multiplayer gaming are overloading the thought processes of higher-ups.
We're in a chicken-and-egg situation. Big publishers don't want to spend money on 1% of the market, and the Linux market can't grow without games. That's why I'm fairly relaxed about Proton. Yes, it lets Windows developers “get away with” ignoring us, but in the longer term, if it results in more gamers running Linux - even if they're only playing Windows games, even if it only raises Linux market share to 1.5 or 2% - then I can only see that as a Good Thing. At the risk of trotting out a cliché, let's not let the perfect be the enemy of the merely good.
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