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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Its a shame and hopefully they will port other games to Linux and this is just a function of TROY having been on the EPIC store first.
I will always be happy to pay full price for a native Linux release, however I wait for non-native titles I play through PROTON to go on sale first out of principle.
I will always be happy to pay full price for a native Linux release, however I wait for non-native titles I play through PROTON to go on sale first out of principle.
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My biggest problem with Feral ports (at least for CA games) has always been the VERY slow speed of updates compared to the Windows version.
How long is the latest TW: WH2 patch & DLC out now? Two weeks?
Feral STILL has not released the Linux port.
If people were waiting to play it, they will do so once everyone else has already moved on...
Same thing with mods. If a mod is updated to support the latest patch, it means the mod won't work with the current Linux version.
I know the blame for this isn't only Feral's, it is possible they are getting access to the files for porting way too late to do anything about it.
But their communication is equally vague and useless (e.g. still no release date for the latest TW:WH2 patch & DLC). They've even locked the thread on the Steam forums because people were calling them out on their non-communication...
I've been using Proton for Total War games for a while now. Also means I can play online with friends, most of which do not use Linux or Mac.
Last edited by TheSHEEEP on 27 July 2021 at 4:33 pm UTC
How long is the latest TW: WH2 patch & DLC out now? Two weeks?
Feral STILL has not released the Linux port.
If people were waiting to play it, they will do so once everyone else has already moved on...
Same thing with mods. If a mod is updated to support the latest patch, it means the mod won't work with the current Linux version.
I know the blame for this isn't only Feral's, it is possible they are getting access to the files for porting way too late to do anything about it.
But their communication is equally vague and useless (e.g. still no release date for the latest TW:WH2 patch & DLC). They've even locked the thread on the Steam forums because people were calling them out on their non-communication...
I've been using Proton for Total War games for a while now. Also means I can play online with friends, most of which do not use Linux or Mac.
Last edited by TheSHEEEP on 27 July 2021 at 4:33 pm UTC
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Exactly what i was afraid of, and why i can't say if Proton is a good thing or not.
Disclaimer: I actually exclusively buy games with native support. That said...
The way I see it there are really two possible futures (10, 20 or whatever years from now):
1. Linux doesn't have a big market share among gamers. In this case, it really didn't matter that proton stopped native ports. People just didn't come to Linux to game, and we few should at least be happy we have a way to play games.
2. Linux gets a significant market share. In this case, do you really think developers will continue relying on Proton? If Linux does get a significant market share among gamers, I don't have a doubt that companies will start doing native ports, simply because you can't have a significant portion of your revenue be at the mercy of some translation layer you can't control.
In short, either proton is irrelevat or good. There is no scenario where proton would be a bad thing long term.
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I think proton is a very good thing. It does hurt companies like Feral, and I am not happy about that.
Proton delivers a good alternative to Windows, and in some cases it works just a lot better.
No more installation of direct 3d drivers when installing a game and then realize that other games don't work anymore.
No more problems with the libc version that you are running.
People will start using proton, this means more and more people use Linux.
In the end developers will target "proton", and hopefully proton will just evolve in a platform independent layer.
The question is: how can we help companies like Feral?
Proton delivers a good alternative to Windows, and in some cases it works just a lot better.
No more installation of direct 3d drivers when installing a game and then realize that other games don't work anymore.
No more problems with the libc version that you are running.
People will start using proton, this means more and more people use Linux.
In the end developers will target "proton", and hopefully proton will just evolve in a platform independent layer.
The question is: how can we help companies like Feral?
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The question is: how can we help companies like Feral?If Steam Deck is successful, Feral could reinvent itself as a consultancy that helps dev companies to build in-house capabilities in the GNU/L space.
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Much depends on the success of Steam Deck. If it manages to bring millions of new users to the GNU/L world...
I'm not sure why people keep thinking this will happen like this. Even Proton was claimed to do this when it came out and look at this headline now. Most people have an everyday phone that runs Linux. Their consoles are BSD. Where is this influx of dev Linux support people somehow expect? People don't care what their devices are running, just that they do. They're not suddenly going to migrate because their Switch rival runs a certain OS.
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Kimyrielle Jul 27, 2021
I do not care what makes a game run on Linux as long as it runs on Linux and isn't called Stadia.
I share the one concern about Proton not guaranteeing that a Windows game currently running on Linux will continue to run after the next patch (I am looking at you, Origin!), but as far as I am concerned, that's the ONLY downside of Proton compared to porting.
WINE/Proton has become incredibly good. What was barely able to run some legacy games on Linux only a few years back (and with a lot of tinkering) has become an almost invisible compatibility layer that makes even AAA Windows games run out of the box more often than not.
A tool that runs (almost) any Windows game on Linux in a way that's indistinguishable from a native client is just as good as any port, and Proton gives us (almost) that. They're still working on the "almost" part, and with anti-cheat issues soon to be a thing of the past: Who needs Linux ports of years old games anyway, if Proton allows you to play the Windows version from day 1? The last point actually makes Proton -better- than ports.
In the end, while I am grateful for Feral's past contribution to Linux gaming, I am not going to miss them much. Linux gaming has moved on.
Last edited by Kimyrielle on 27 July 2021 at 4:44 pm UTC
I share the one concern about Proton not guaranteeing that a Windows game currently running on Linux will continue to run after the next patch (I am looking at you, Origin!), but as far as I am concerned, that's the ONLY downside of Proton compared to porting.
WINE/Proton has become incredibly good. What was barely able to run some legacy games on Linux only a few years back (and with a lot of tinkering) has become an almost invisible compatibility layer that makes even AAA Windows games run out of the box more often than not.
A tool that runs (almost) any Windows game on Linux in a way that's indistinguishable from a native client is just as good as any port, and Proton gives us (almost) that. They're still working on the "almost" part, and with anti-cheat issues soon to be a thing of the past: Who needs Linux ports of years old games anyway, if Proton allows you to play the Windows version from day 1? The last point actually makes Proton -better- than ports.
In the end, while I am grateful for Feral's past contribution to Linux gaming, I am not going to miss them much. Linux gaming has moved on.
Last edited by Kimyrielle on 27 July 2021 at 4:44 pm UTC
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Much depends on the success of Steam Deck. If it manages to bring millions of new users to the GNU/L world...
I'm not sure why people keep thinking this will happen like this. Even Proton was claimed to do this when it came out and look at this headline now. Most people have an everyday phone that runs Linux. Their consoles are BSD. Where is this influx of dev Linux support people somehow expect? People don't care what their devices are running, just that they do. They're not suddenly going to migrate because their Switch rival runs a certain OS.
Because... Android and consoles have nothing to do with desktop Linux. This does. It's running desktop Linux with a new version of BPM fronting it. You can't get a game to run on this console without providing that game for Linux generally.
I don't care if people don't adopt desktop Linux particularly. But having a big ticket console forcing developers to support my desktop Linux would be all kinds of (extremely selfish) marvellous.
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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...
Who knows what happens in the future, but the status quo always changes. Blockbuster died due to online streaming. Should we have kept Blockbuster artificially alive - just for the sake of it?
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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...
Who knows what happens in the future, but the status quo always changes. Blockbuster died due to online streaming. Should we have kept Blockbuster artificially alive - just for the sake of it?
Native ports disappearing means less Linux professionals working on low level stuff related to audio and graphics libraries for example, or even the kernel. Linux as a gaming platform will suffer in the long run as the know how will dry up.
Ethan Lee explained the situation better.
But of course it's hard to predict the future.
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Native ports disappearing means less Linux professionals working on low level stuff related to audio and graphics libraries for example, or even the kernel. Linux as a gaming platform will suffer in the long run as the know how will dry up.Not quite. The vast majority of the advances we've seen have been due to Proton and Valve has been funding large parts of it. Even drivers get fixed up faster nowadays to keep support up.
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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...
Who knows what happens in the future, but the status quo always changes. Blockbuster died due to online streaming. Should we have kept Blockbuster artificially alive - just for the sake of it?
While it would have eventually done them in, until recently Family Video was still around. Blockbuster was expensive and didn't adapt to online streaming.
In this case, Feral has no choice because Valve decided to go with Proton and not native ports. There is no alternative plan that Feral can take and honestly even with out Valve it wasn't looking good.
For now, I think something like Unity is the best chance of getting a native Linux port these days.
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No TUX, no bucks.
Bought many Total war games from Feral, but without native version i have no interest. Enough other games to play.
Bought many Total war games from Feral, but without native version i have no interest. Enough other games to play.
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Regardless how superduper is Proton, having Feral abandoning Linux ports feels to me like a huge loss.
Over the years they amassed so much knowledge about Linux porting, and with their latest ports being excellent, to basically throw all this talent away?
I'm not discussing the reasons that got us to this point, is nobody's fault really, but like with Ethan's case, having these capable guys moving to some other pastures is (IMO) a major blow. And by the time Linux marketshare grows enough to trigger again native releases, these guys will be doing something else and all that knowledge probably lost.
Over the years they amassed so much knowledge about Linux porting, and with their latest ports being excellent, to basically throw all this talent away?
I'm not discussing the reasons that got us to this point, is nobody's fault really, but like with Ethan's case, having these capable guys moving to some other pastures is (IMO) a major blow. And by the time Linux marketshare grows enough to trigger again native releases, these guys will be doing something else and all that knowledge probably lost.
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Over the years they amassed so much knowledge about Linux porting, and with their latest ports being excellent, to basically throw all this talent away?Weeeeelll, they had a lot of people leave, so quite a lot of that talent went elsewhere.
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Though it hurts us on a personal level now... let's hope for the best. And due to Proton and the Steam Deck that Linux gaming is becoming something more appealing for devs and publishers in the long run. It will be a tough time while Proton does most of the heaving lifting, but once Linux is established as and has proven to be a viable gaming platform, the native ports should become more important again.
But even then external porting might not be as important as it has been. Maybe it'll be done more in house even. I guess outsourcing a Linux (and Mac) port has had it's zenith, and we kinda knew it already before Proton was a thing.
But even then external porting might not be as important as it has been. Maybe it'll be done more in house even. I guess outsourcing a Linux (and Mac) port has had it's zenith, and we kinda knew it already before Proton was a thing.
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Native ports disappearing means less Linux professionals working on low level stuff related to audio and graphics libraries for example, or even the kernel. Linux as a gaming platform will suffer in the long run as the know how will dry up.Not quite. The vast majority of the advances we've seen have been due to Proton and Valve has been funding large parts of it. Even drivers get fixed up faster nowadays to keep support up.
From a technological standpoint, desktop Linux risks to become dependent on what Valve thinks is important for Proton.
Quoting Lee:
These are tough problems that need people looking at them, and native cares about this stuff! Instead the money’s just getting dumped into crap like the Synchronization Primitive of the Month that basically nobody making production-quality software can ship.
Egoistically one can say as long as we can play all the Windows games who cares.
But again, I think Valve's bet to terminate all native development is risky.
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Yep.Over the years they amassed so much knowledge about Linux porting, and with their latest ports being excellent, to basically throw all this talent away?Weeeeelll, they had a lot of people leave, so quite a lot of that talent went elsewhere.
I think the biggest shock that I had was when Marc left for Unity. It was when the first pillar started to crack.
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Over the years they amassed so much knowledge about Linux porting, and with their latest ports being excellent, to basically throw all this talent away?Weeeeelll, they had a lot of people leave, so quite a lot of that talent went elsewhere.
I think not many people on here are aware of that, Feral seems to be bleeding off their Linux peeps for a while now. Plus as much as it's been a good thing to have them around Feral has always been on a some what unstable business model being a porting house so there has always been a risk of them eventually stepping away at some point. Even if native titles where being pushed as hard by Valve eventually studios would of simply had internal Linux teams.
But I might have a bit of a different perspective than some around here as I've been using Linux for long enough at this point I've watched commercial Linux porting efforts for games come and go more than once at this point.
Another thing I think some people have missed because it's outside of this sites gaming orientation and focus is the fact Valve simply getting involved in Linux has also spurred a lot of other apps including some heavy hitting professional apps having Linux versions.
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