Well, the writing was on the wall for some time but this confirms it - it seems Feral Interactive aren't likely to do more Linux ports with the official port of A Total War Saga: TROY for Linux cancelled.
It was announced today that TROY would be finally seeing a Steam release on September 2. Feral did their usual thing on Twitter of quote-tweeting, mentioning it would be on macOS soon after the Windows release. A mention of Linux was totally absent.
Feral replied to a user on Twitter to say:
The Linux port was put on hold while TROY was exclusive to Epic, and we are not resuming development for the Steam release. We will continue to assess the feasibility of porting games to Linux, but there is generally less demand for native titles since Valve’s launch of Proton.
Considering there's a chance that Steam Play Proton might be able to play it from day-1, it's not overly surprising to hear this from Feral considering the cost of porting bigger games with it being far easier for indies. Worth also noting, that TROY was free on Epic Games Store when it first launched, so it would have already eaten into plenty of possible sales.
Part of the problem though, is how most Feral ports lack cross-platform multiplayer with Windows and that type of thing simply won't fly on the upcoming Steam Deck. Add into that issues with saves between the Windows version and Feral ports, that could cause more confusion if they don't sync up. Not only that but since the Steam Deck is basically a PC in handheld form, seeing bigger titles launch for it officially months or years later also wouldn't be a good look.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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DebianUser Jul 27, 2021
Exactly what i was afraid of, and why i can't say if Proton is a good thing or not.
Last edited by DebianUser on 27 July 2021 at 3:50 pm UTC
Last edited by DebianUser on 27 July 2021 at 3:50 pm UTC
28 Likes, Who?
Sad :(
5 Likes, Who?
For anyone wonders if the game will work at day 1 or not ; i grabbed it last year when it was free on EGS for 24 hours ( perma keep ) :
It works on Wine+DXVK since day 1. So Feral porting this or not really shouldn't matter.
It works on Wine+DXVK since day 1. So Feral porting this or not really shouldn't matter.
2 Likes, Who?
For Troy it's kind of understandable since the game was free a year ago and perfectly playable on Linux already. I'd still be hopeful that Feral would use the tech that they invested in for more ports. It definitely would make a difference for me. But the bigger problem I see is that the business model of Feral is not actually leading to much business (besides Creative Assembly) any more. And this applies as much to the Mac side of things. I wouldn't be surprised if the went completely mobile/Switch. I wish them the best though! I've enjoyed many of their ports and quite a few of them have been the highest price I've paid for single games.
13 Likes, Who?
rustybroomhandle Jul 27, 2021
When they say there's less demand for native titles, that really just means there's bigger choice overall for people who game on Linux. Previously they were a niche player in a tiny market. Now the tiny market is not just limited to the niche any more. They'll be ok though, there's still mobile.
3 Likes, Who?
I'm saddened but not surprised. I saw this coming with the Epic exclusivity. It launched for free on the EGS and millions downloaded it. Even putting aside Proton, there probably would be far fewer people who would actually pay money for it a year+ later on Steam, let alone people who would pay money for it and were also running Linux. It makes sense for Feral to not bother.
5 Likes, Who?
I think this is good news, Feral ports were usually not very good: lower performance, delayed patches, additional bugs, etc.. The very idea of "porting" smells of a sub-par product.
I like to see *native* releases; it they cannot provide that, ensuring good compatibility with Proton may be better than a port.
I like to see *native* releases; it they cannot provide that, ensuring good compatibility with Proton may be better than a port.
10 Likes, Who?
Can we also note here:
Steam's solution sucks for Feral (and anyone doing porting) but at least we get the games running on Linux.
The Linux port was put on hold while TROY was exclusive to EpicEpic's complete lack of Linux support means games don't get ported to Linux as well (Because why would you port a game to Linux if there is no way to ship the build or launch it, due to contractual obligations that says distribution must go through EGS which doesn't support that).
Steam's solution sucks for Feral (and anyone doing porting) but at least we get the games running on Linux.
2 Likes, Who?
I think this is good news, Feral ports were usually not very good: lower performance, delayed patches, additional bugs, etc.. The very idea of "porting" smells of a sub-par product.
I like to see *native* releases; it they cannot provide that, ensuring good compatibility with Proton may be better than a port.
Most of Feral ports were perfectly fine lately and I prefer native ports to Proton
because of performance, better behavior and integration. Even if graphics part might be emulated,
the system code written well makes things a lot easier and much less demanding.
16 Likes, Who?
Don't be sad!
1 Likes, Who?
There is demand for native ports. But if Feral needs months or years to port a game, than I can't blame the people who try proton instead. Games need to be ready on day-1 or a few days after. But not many people want to wait of proton is a working solution.
Last edited by PlayX on 27 July 2021 at 4:20 pm UTC
Last edited by PlayX on 27 July 2021 at 4:20 pm UTC
9 Likes, Who?
This is why it's important to get past the chicken/egg market share problem. If the Steam Deck, as well as Steam on Chromebooks which could also have an impact, push us over a certain market share (in a way that would not have been possible without Proton), then hopefully native-from-the-start will become a much more common thing.
But if that doesn't work, well, Proton has a definite downside.
But if that doesn't work, well, Proton has a definite downside.
8 Likes, Who?
why pay for developing a new version when the already-existing one works just fine?In my case, because they'd get 2-10 times as much money from me. But they won't particularly notice just my money, or even if all of us did it, because we're dwarfed my the hordes of Windows users.
5 Likes, Who?
Proton is both the saviour and bane of Linux gaming.
Short term I see a widening catalog of playable games.
But Long term I can see porting companies and Linux professionals losing their job and native versions disappear form the market. There's a risk Linux won't be seen as a target platform ever again. I'm not sure it's a good thing...
Short term I see a widening catalog of playable games.
But Long term I can see porting companies and Linux professionals losing their job and native versions disappear form the market. There's a risk Linux won't be seen as a target platform ever again. I'm not sure it's a good thing...
9 Likes, Who?
I fear this is where we slide back to having to solely rely on supporting Microsoft and Windows tech and just hope that Valve remains interested in/able to keep up with them as they're the main driving force behind WINE gaming enhancements these days. Else we'll be back to the old days barely supporting some games years after their release. Future looks bleak again for open APIs; I doubt many devs will go through the work of even Vulkan if it's advertised as not having to make the effort.
4 Likes, Who?
Proton is amazing, runs games without headaches, improving the experience by far, no way that's double edged knife, it's completely necessary.
Feral's work is amazing, they are really competent, but the idea of the needing of a company just to release a port is bizarre, problems with multiplayer, dlcs taking a long time to release, patches, etc. We need a first class treatment, the developer should release a Linux version, but this will never happen, so that's why proton is so important.
People need to watch the market, they saw this coming, they should find another way to make money.
Last edited by fagnerln on 27 July 2021 at 4:36 pm UTC
Feral's work is amazing, they are really competent, but the idea of the needing of a company just to release a port is bizarre, problems with multiplayer, dlcs taking a long time to release, patches, etc. We need a first class treatment, the developer should release a Linux version, but this will never happen, so that's why proton is so important.
People need to watch the market, they saw this coming, they should find another way to make money.
Last edited by fagnerln on 27 July 2021 at 4:36 pm UTC
1 Likes, Who?
Well, not buying that one. Shame since Total War is one of my favorite franchises.
I've bought almost everything feral has brought to Linux, feel kinda betrayed, tbh.
I've bought almost everything feral has brought to Linux, feel kinda betrayed, tbh.
1 Likes, Who?
Much depends on the success of Steam Deck. If it manages to bring millions of new users to the GNU/L world, devs will have an incentive to provide the best experience possible on it, hence to provide native, in-house releases (rather than ports).
6 Likes, Who?
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