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PayPalSad news today Linux gamers, Psyonix emailed us directly to make sure we saw the news that they're officially ending support of Rocket League on Linux and macOS.
Their published statement on this was quite short and didn't really explain much:
As we continue to upgrade Rocket League with new technologies, it is no longer viable for us to maintain support for the macOS and Linux (SteamOS) platforms. As a result, the final patch for the macOS and Linux versions of the game will be in March. This update will disable online functionality (such as in-game purchases) for players on macOS and Linux, but offline features including Local Matches, and splitscreen play will still be accessible.
If you purchased Rocket League for Mac or Linux on Steam, the game will still work with full functionality when installed and played on a computer running Windows 7 or newer.
So the Linux and macOS versions will still be there, but left old and online play will be disabled. Not good. Not good at all and as a huge Rocket League fan I'm not pleased—annoyed you might say.
This "new technologies" bit was interesting, perhaps they've decided to go DirectX 12 with an Unreal Engine upgrade? At this point we can only speculate with so little information. In the expanded support page, for Linux they mentioned playing Rocket League with Steam Play Proton is possible although they will not be supporting it.
When Psyonix became part of Epic Games back in May last year, many speculated that Rocket League would not only drop Linux support but also leave Steam. I didn't think either would happen but here we are, Psyonix has still never said they will continue to sell the game on Steam only that it would see "continued support". Originally, I thought meant it would go free to play, but with this move it seems a little more likely it will move over to the Epic Store which doesn't support Linux.
Update: Psyonix are now suggesting to request a refund from them on their support portal.
Update 2 - 24/01: Psyonix are now telling us "macOS and Linux players can reach out directly to Steam to request refunds and they will be honored. In these cases, Steam will make an exception to their 2 hours limit rule.". Their own support ticket team are now also saying to ask Steam for the refund, although Valve has denied my own refund twice.
In situations like this, Valve ideally need a better support system in place or at least an option of platform removal to get around the usual way. As we end up going in circles.
Update 3: After making their PR team aware what was going on with the refund situation, they've now released a statement on Reddit. Refunds will be accepted on Steam now, plus they gave the reason behind removing Linux and macOS support.
It's what I suspected as written above, they're upgrading to a higher version of Direct X which is a problem as the "macOS and Linux native clients depend on our DX9 implementation for their OpenGL renderer to function" and they're not willing to put resources into Vulkan/Metal for Linux/macOS when the combined player-base was apparently "0.3%" of the active total and when "viable workarounds exist" with Wine being mentioned.
They could have gone for Vulkan though to get Windows + Linux (and Stadia) and possibly even macOS with MoltenVK. It's a shame another company decided to stick with a proprietary API. That said, it may not have been possible if they're on quite an old version of Unreal Engine.
If you do get a refund for it, be sure you use that Steam Wallet funding for a developer that does support Linux. Make it count.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Mohandevir Jan 24, 2020
That guy is angry! :)
Luke_Nukem Jan 24, 2020
Quoting: Luke_NukemHow many downvotes would be possible and how would that affect the rating on Steam? Something I'm super curious about now.
It doesn't matter, how mayn downvotes they receive through this, Steam implemented some kind of Ranking Protection in case of some "incidents" where due to a specific topic a game gets downvotes.
You can see this here:
The asterisk indicates that the Rating is filtered:
Last edited by Tharvas on 24 January 2020 at 7:01 pm UTC
Quoting: EnkhielQuoting: Luke_NukemHow many downvotes would be possible and how would that affect the rating on Steam? Something I'm super curious about now.
It doesn't matter, how mayn downvotes they receive through this, Steam implemented some kind of Ranking Protection in case of some "incidents" where due to a specific topic a game gets downvotes.
You can see this here:
The asterisk indicates that the Rating is filtered:
If that prevents you from writing negative review due to dropped Linux support, that amounts to censorship.
Last edited by Shmerl on 24 January 2020 at 8:07 pm UTC
Quoting: Adam_eMI cannot resist the feeling that it was basically a politically motivated decision. Linux version, worked flawlessly at all, and it was based on a multiplatform engine, so what makes them unable to support it further on actually? All those bells and whistles teased by psyonix? I won't go for a refund though, It's without any doubt - one of favourite games I had in my library. Playing it from day-1... I wonder if they're going to implement their anti-cheat solution, or what actually stops them from further support.
I think the whole announcement reeks of company speak for publisher (or new owner) told us to cease support.
Quoting: EnkhielQuoting: Luke_NukemHow many downvotes would be possible and how would that affect the rating on Steam? Something I'm super curious about now.
It doesn't matter, how mayn downvotes they receive through this, Steam implemented some kind of Ranking Protection in case of some "incidents" where due to a specific topic a game gets downvotes.
You can see this here:
The asterisk indicates that the Rating is filtered:
This is true, however Steam is currently reporting the game as having "mostly negative" recent reviews (oddly, since there seems to be a lot more "positive" reviews from what I suspect are bot accounts).
Last edited by WorMzy on 24 January 2020 at 8:54 pm UTC
appetrosyan Jan 24, 2020
Quoting: SalvatosQuoting: GuestWell, if they are switching things up internally there might be new incompatibilities there too.QuoteLet’s see how it goes with Proton
Apparently it works better
Quoting: appetrosyanSpeaking of which: I propose the following nomenclature, for anyone who (like me) feels like a 12 year old.I always find that such name-calling reflects much more poorly on the person using it than their opponent. Being opposed to something doesn’t mean you can’t be civilized towards it.
I mean if you read on beyond the first few, you’ll notice that name calling is not the point. We’re trying to soften the blow by euphemising the wording of what happened, which I’m not at all a fan of.
appetrosyan Jan 24, 2020
Quoting: xaviE-sports will not be sports until participating is universally guaranteed.
I’m quite sure that you may not be allowed to partake if on steroids, hence anti-cheats, and or have a disease that makes you produce more of said hormone.
That being said, I’m quite sure that there’s a ton of ways that we could creat a FOSS game that does essentially the same.
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