Update: 28/08/21 - The developer is now looking into putting up a Beta version to get the community to help test. So it's possible they may restore native Linux support.
Original article:
Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion, a silly single-player adventure that reviewed well and one I personally enjoyed has decided to drop Linux support.
Snoozy Kazoo and Graffiti Games recently put out a big free update for the game, which is not coming to Linux. On their Steam forum, the developer posted this announcement on August 19:
Attention gamers and tax evaders,
We will be dropping support for Linux beyond the June 16th release of the game on Linux. If you have the Linux version installed, it will not be updated with future content and fixes unfortunately. You will need to download the Windows or Mac version for future updates.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, but it has been a struggle to reliably build and test the Linux version, so it will not be updated in the future.
No further explanation was given on what issues they encountered. It's built with the Unity game engine, which usually has pretty good Linux support so we can only speculate as to anything more on it until they decided to expand on the reasons for it.
A real shame when this happens but it's part of the struggle of being a niche platform. Hopefully the upcoming Steam Deck (which is powered by Linux) will eventually see more developers look to support their games directly either through native builds they have control over, or regular testing with Steam Play Proton.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Quoting: CatKillerSince developers like this suck so much at customer service, Valve should force them to do better: give automatic refunds to affected customers, to make them whole, and withhold revenue until the cost of that has been recovered. That's what other retailers do. I'm only ever going to buy a handful of games from any particular game dev, but I buy hundreds overall from Steam; my confidence in buying things on Steam becomes less every time a developer pulls this kind of scam, which harms Valve.
While I feel your frustration, I do think that such a move would decrease the number of native ports even more since Linux now would become not only a fringe market but also a dangerous one.
Quoting: F.UltraWhile I feel your frustration, I do think that such a move would decrease the number of native ports even more since Linux now would become not only a fringe market but also a dangerous one.
How so dangerous? That they should give the money back when they don't provide the goods they said they'd give in exchange? I'd want the same thing for Windows users if a dev took their money and then flatly refused to provide the product that had been paid for. Developers need to use their whole arse, and Valve need to maintain customer confidence in their marketplace.
Valve automatically protecting customers from rogue devs is the nice option. Being forced to do it in every country with consumer protection laws is the less nice, and much less easy, option.
Quoting: Liam DaweLooks like the developer is listening and will be putting up a Beta.I'd love to check that out, can you provide a link pretty please?
Quoting: TrainDocHave updated the article.Quoting: Liam DaweLooks like the developer is listening and will be putting up a Beta.I'd love to check that out, can you provide a link pretty please?
Quoting: CatKillerSince developers like this suck so much at customer service, Valve should force them to do better: give automatic refunds to affected customers, to make them whole, and withhold revenue until the cost of that has been recovered. That's what other retailers do. I'm only ever going to buy a handful of games from any particular game dev, but I buy hundreds overall from Steam; my confidence in buying things on Steam becomes less every time a developer pulls this kind of scam, which harms Valve....but how would you prove you still want to play that game on that specific, no more supported, platform and not just having enough of it and want to regain the money?
Refunds for everyone asking when one platform is discarded? I see no other way, maybe a partial refund would be a fair compromise, but again, how much?
Edit:
Maybe Valve could put a minimum time devs are enforced to support all the platforms they advertised at launch or refund everyone asking, but i fear that any of the option I listed would simply scare developers and just kill the little market we have today.
Last edited by kokoko3k on 28 August 2021 at 1:49 pm UTC
Quoting: kokoko3k...but how would you prove you still want to play that game on that specific, no more supported, platform and not just having enough of it and want to regain the money?Valve knows what platform you've been playing on.
Refunds for everyone asking when one platform is discarded?
If someone asks for a refund who played the game for a while but never on a dropped platform, they don't get the refund.
Quoting: TheSHEEEPBut it can't read my mind, and doesn't have a clue if I want to continue playing that game or i'm just speculating.Quoting: kokoko3k...but how would you prove you still want to play that game on that specific, no more supported, platform and not just having enough of it and want to regain the money?Valve knows what platform you've been playing on.
Refunds for everyone asking when one platform is discarded?
If someone asks for a refund who played the game for a while but never on a dropped platform, they don't get the refund.
Last edited by kokoko3k on 28 August 2021 at 2:24 pm UTC
Quoting: kokoko3kBut it can't read my mind, and doesn't have a clue if I want to continue playing that game or i'm just speculating.They don't need to remove it from the user's library. But if they do, the customer can choose to rebuy it if they want to take the risk.
Valve know how to count a sale as for a particular platform. They include that information in their sales reports to developers. If a developer makes sales on false pretences, by lying on their Steam store page, Valve automatically refunds the money that developers shouldn't have taken in the first place.
It's not a punishment, it's just maintaining confidence in the Steam store: if customers are harmed by false statements made on the store page, they'll be made whole again.
Last edited by CatKiller on 28 August 2021 at 7:13 pm UTC
Quoting: kokoko3kBut it can't read my mind, and doesn't have a clue if I want to continue playing that game or i'm just speculating.If you are asking for a refund via the normal "request refund" on Steam, you don't want to continue playing.
That's pretty much a given.
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