inXile entertainment today put out a fresh update to go over Wasteland 3 details and they've decided to delay the Linux and Mac versions.
After a successful Fig crowdfunding campaign in 2016, it saw inXile manage to pull in over three million dollars although over two million of that was monies from Fig directly. Since then, Microsoft swooped in and acquired inXile (and
Obsidian Entertainment) as part of Xbox Game Studios back in 2018.
The actual release date for Wasteland 3 was only put down recently as August 28, today though that changes for Linux and Mac. In the update post they said they made the "difficult decision" to focus currently on just Windows 10, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. However, they will be "prioritizing" the work needed for Linux and Mac "post-launch" and they expect it to be finished "by the end of the year". Delays are never fun but if this means they truly dedicate some resources to it, therefore ensuring it results in "a better overall product for Mac and Linux" then hopefully it will be a good quality port.
With that in mind, they seem to be going about this in quite a sensible way and mentioned that they're offering refunds beyond the normal cut-offs but you need to do so before keys/physical rewards have shipped. So if you can't wait, you should act on a refund now.
You can wishlist/follow or whatever else on GOG and Steam. Latest trailer available below:
Direct Link
It's interesting they chose to still do a Linux port. During Bard's Tale 4 they seemed very interested in the fact that it ran, almost perfectly, through Proton at the time. Their PR contacts didn't seem aware of Proton at all until I mentioned that is how I got the game working.
This is a studio I feel still has passion and vision for their titles. I hope Wasteland 3 turns out well.
They gathered a couple of million dollars with their promise. And now they don't deliver. How is that ok?
To me this is fraud. Giving back the money to the affected people with interest should be the bare minimum. There should be some additional compensation and/or punishment involved in my opinion.
Edit: The additional compensation should actually be high enough to deter companies from doing this so casually all the time.
Last edited by Kohrias on 10 July 2020 at 5:43 pm UTC
During their campaign they promised: "Simultaneously releasing to Windows, Mac, Linux, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.". It is still up on their fig page.You must be new to crowdfunding.
These goals are always just goals, never promises or anything they'd actually be liable for (as long as they can prove they at least tried to fulfill the goals, at least KS works that way).
You can't plan a project ahead by multiple years so well that reality won't be able to throw a few wrenches in your gears.
Crunching your team or releasing subpar versions are worse alternatives than delays.
Still, I'd always release all versions at the same time if anyhow possible, it just makes the most sense due to the release buzz. OS-specific releases never generate any real buzz.
They might have specific deals for the Windows/Xbox/PS4 releases, though (including marketing), making postponements of these barely possible.
Last edited by TheSHEEEP on 10 July 2020 at 6:25 pm UTC
You can't plan a project ahead by multiple years so well that reality won't be able to throw a few wrenches in your gears.
Crunching your team or releasing subpar versions are worse alternatives than delays.
We are not really talking about a plain delay though. They are delivering to certain platforms while postponing (potentially indefinitely) others to maximize their profits.
TTheir PR contacts didn't seem aware of Proton at all until I mentioned that is how I got the game working.
I always manage to loose my previous game save files, and to top it off completely forget what the hell I did in that playthrough. DA Inquisition had a way of solving this by letting you pick the backstory and import it in the new games to keep continuity.
On the other hand, if you forgot most of it (like me), continuity is not that important, right?
Big software projects often have the problem, that it gets more expensive and lasts longer than planned.
Then (in fact it should be from the beginning) prioritization starts, and guess what always gets a low prio? Supporting the system with the lowest market share.
For now they kept premises, except for The Bard's Tale Trilogy (Remaster) which is only available for macOS and Windows.
I don't know what will be their next game, but Wasteland 3 might be the last with a Linux release...
Why is that NOT surprising, coming from the same company who needed about a year after the Windows release to deliver the promised Bards Tale IV port. "Difficult decision"...lol...it's just how these people operate.Please stop making things up to bandwagon on the hate train. The Linux port for BT4 was available right around release. It was very buggy though and it wasn't fully playable for a few weeks afterwards. I know this because I played both the Windows and Linux versions before release and after release.
A year later they patched a lot of the game, based on player feedback, and offered "The Director's Cut" for free to those who had already purchased the original game. That is exactly what a good game studio does when it misses its mark and player expectations. That is what Hello Games did when they stumbled with No Man's Sky. What's the point in slagging on people who make a mistake and then fix it? No one is perfect.
Actually, Kimyrielle is correct on that. When released, The Bards Tale IV was in a poor state and wasn't reviewed too well. Linux was entirely missing too. Linux only came with the Director's Cut, released like a year later. So we did have to wait quite a while on it.Why is that NOT surprising, coming from the same company who needed about a year after the Windows release to deliver the promised Bards Tale IV port. "Difficult decision"...lol...it's just how these people operate.Please stop making things up to bandwagon on the hate train. The Linux port for BT4 was available right around release. It was very buggy though and it wasn't fully playable for a few weeks afterwards. I know this because I played both the Windows and Linux versions before release and after release.
Okay, my bad. Sorry.Actually, Kimyrielle is correct on that. When released, The Bards Tale IV was in a poor state and wasn't reviewed too well. Linux was entirely missing too. Linux only came with the Director's Cut, released like a year later. So we did have to wait quite a while on it.Why is that NOT surprising, coming from the same company who needed about a year after the Windows release to deliver the promised Bards Tale IV port. "Difficult decision"...lol...it's just how these people operate.Please stop making things up to bandwagon on the hate train. The Linux port for BT4 was available right around release. It was very buggy though and it wasn't fully playable for a few weeks afterwards. I know this because I played both the Windows and Linux versions before release and after release.
After watching this trailer I decided not to get this game due to woke propaganda.
What propaganda?
See more from me