Update: Feral got in touch, all is fine. As I suggested it was, it's due to a late filling of accounts. Phoronix has now removed their article and Feral has given permission to quote them on this:
Hello Liam,
Thank you for your email.
Sorry to give a mundane explanation, but this is a non-story. It is simply due to late filing of our accounts, not great, but not terribly unusual.
It’s a shame Michael Larabel didn't contact us before publishing this piece, we would have been happy to set him straight.
Feral is in good health and we look forward to continuing to bring great games to our favourite platforms for many years to come.
Regards,
Timur
Original article:
Feral Interactive, the porting company that has made many games available on Linux (as well as macOS and mobile) may be in a spot of trouble.
Reported first on Phoronix, as found out from the UK's Companies House, they're being given a "First Gazette notice for compulsory strike-off" which is not exactly a good sign for any company. What this means, is that they have a few months before they might cease to legally exist. There can be a few reasons for this, like not sending in their accounts or an annual confirmation statement. Looking at Feral, it seems theirs are overdue as they should have been done by 31 December 2019.
This would be really bad for Linux gaming as a whole considering just how many ports they've given us including: Mad Max, Shadow of Mordor, XCOM, XCOM 2, Life is Strange 1 & 2 + Before the Storm, HITMAN, Tomb Raider, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, numerous Total War titles and they were supposed to also be bringing Total War Saga: TROY to Linux this year too.
However—given how they've only somewhat recently expanded into Nintendo Switch and mobile porting with multiple titles (and they're pretty lucrative platforms), and they only just released Company of Heroes on iPad, something about this seems a little odd. Hopefully it's a case of some missing paperwork that's being prepared late with this notice perhaps being automatic.
We've reached out to Feral Interactive, to see if they can provide a statement.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
As Phoronix noted, Feral has terrible employee reviews on Glassdoor. There is something not working there.I wouldn't call them outright terrible, out of 6 reviews only one is negative and another one neutral. The rest are positive.
It’s a shame Michael Larabel didn't contact us before publishing this piece, we would have been happy to set him straight.
Surprise, surprise.
Mohandevir Feb 26, 2020
@all: Cookies to Feral!?!
Proton/Steamplay. *Hooray* \o/
It's not like that at least some people assumed this will affect Feral.
Going for Switch is a good business decision.
Hopefully, it's not too late for them.
I feel for the employees and the uncomfortable time they're going through. :/
they have to choose games more carefully
i am pretty sure they wouldnt have made a linux port of life is strange 2, if they have known about proton
i guess the cash cows are online games like they do with total war and warhammer and games with really good graphics like romb raider
at least the very skilled vulkan and linux game developers have a new job in no time
epic should throw some money on feral for linux client and fortnite and rocket leauge linux versions
Last edited by Raaben on 26 February 2020 at 2:29 pm UTC
rustybroomhandle Feb 26, 2020
Arehandoro Feb 26, 2020
;)
Good news then. :)Well, according to the article he did contacted Feral prior to publishing it, but alas he didn't waited for a response and spun the story and especially that title towards gloom and doom.
It’s a shame Michael Larabel didn't contact us before publishing this piece, we would have been happy to set him straight.
Surprise, surprise.
I like Michael, but indeed, he went too far this time.
There's a reason I never visit "that other site": its history of dubious accuracy.
Depends. If I want to learn about a new Mesa regression or the raw speed of an AMD setup vs Intel's offering I would definitely go to Phoronix.
There's a reason I never visit "that other site": its history of dubious accuracy.
There is an other site?
In Dutch we say "een storm in een glas water"In Swedish it would be "en storm i ett vattenglas" ^_^
I don't get why some people feel the need to shit on Michael for reporting the exact same thing Liam did.
There was even a note that it might be a clerical error, and the article made no wild speculations or crazy assumptions beyond the brief explanations of "compulsory strike-off" and "UK Companies House register".
I bet most people reading GoL had no idea what those things meant, myself included.
Phoronix definitely has a place, and they do some good work. I'm not going to advocate for not reading them over this.There's a reason I never visit "that other site": its history of dubious accuracy.
Depends. If I want to learn about a new Mesa regression or the raw speed of an AMD setup vs Intel's offering I would definitely go to Phoronix.
I'll be clear, I only covered it because Phoronix pushed it out and we were getting hassled by email after email about it. In times like this, we're basically forced to say something.In Dutch we say "een storm in een glas water"In Swedish it would be "en storm i ett vattenglas" ^_^
I don't get why some people feel the need to shit on Michael for reporting the exact same thing Liam did.
There was even a note that it might be a clerical error, and the article made no wild speculations or crazy assumptions beyond the brief explanations of "compulsory strike-off" and "UK Companies House register".
I bet most people reading GoL had no idea what those things meant, myself included.
Last edited by Liam Dawe on 26 February 2020 at 4:06 pm UTC
Well, I don't think the issue was reporting the strike-off in itself, the news was worth reporting, yes.In Dutch we say "een storm in een glas water"In Swedish it would be "en storm i ett vattenglas" ^_^
I don't get why some people feel the need to shit on Michael for reporting the exact same thing Liam did.
There was even a note that it might be a clerical error, and the article made no wild speculations or crazy assumptions beyond the brief explanations of "compulsory strike-off" and "UK Companies House register".
I bet most people reading GoL had no idea what those things meant, myself included.
But while Gol was very reserved (let's wait/see what this means first) Michael went full speed ahead and basically speculated the end of Feral.
Michael went full speed ahead and basically speculated the end of Feral.Well, that wasn't how I interpreted the text in the article. Agree to disagree?
edit: it was suggested that the article text has been altered since original publication, effectively reducing the negative tone.
Last edited by dpanter on 26 February 2020 at 4:54 pm UTC
Can't honestly say if the text was altered or not. Possible, I guess.Michael went full speed ahead and basically speculated the end of Feral.Well, that wasn't how I interpreted the text in the article. Agree to disagree?
edit: it was suggested that the article text has been altered since original publication, effectively reducing the negative tone.
But, the "Feral Interactive looks like it may be dissolving" and "Feral Interactive's Days Could Be Numbered" are still there and they still sound like rushed-out speculations, but sure, I agree to agree to disagree...wait, no... never mind.
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