You may have seen the news recently that Overkill decided to stop supporting and updating their Native Linux build of PAYDAY 2. Well, they're now saying they will ensure it works with Proton.
For Steam Deck players, you shouldn't need to do anything, as it defaults to the Windows version running in Proton anyway. For desktop Linux players, you'll just need to force Proton in the right click menu Properties -> Compatibility section on the game.
Addressing some issues that have come up since the latest update including matchmaking problems, they included a section on the future of PAYDAY 2 running on Linux (and so Steam Deck too). Here's what they said:
Linux is a complicated beast. To get the game working on both native Linux and at the same time updating the older version of the diesel engine that PAYDAY 2 for Linux was using proved unfeasible. This was one of the things we spent the most time trying to solve, yet didn’t reach our goals in the end.
Linux players can still access the game using Proton, we’ll keep testing new updates with Proton to make sure it keeps working for the upcoming patches and releases.
So it's good news for people who don't care about what happens behind the Play button and just want to play their games. Support is what's important and they clearly say they're going to ensure it keeps working and will be testing it.
You could argue the issue wouldn't be a problem if they kept the Linux version on an up to date game engine, but there will be reasons why they haven't done this. We know that developers can see exactly how many players are in their games from each platform (Steam shows developers this), so they likely just saw there wasn't enough players using the Native Linux version to be worth ongoing support costs and upgrades.
I just tested it with Proton Experimental and it worked great.
You should also check out my recent YouTube video for some thoughts.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
hardpenguin Jun 15, 2023
Quotewe’ll keep testing new updates with Proton to make sure it keeps working for the upcoming patches and releases.
THIS is actually what i would expect from all devs if they don't want to maintain a native version.
With such an official statement, i'm perfectly fine in just using the proton version tbh ^^
pleasereadthemanual Jun 15, 2023
If you find an issue while testing, what will you do? Will you delay the release of the next update?
Will you fix it yourself—can you fix it yourself? Is this something you need to report to Valve on their Proton issue tracker?
How will you get the game builds to Valve's developers so they can test them and apply patches? Assuming the issue is patched in Proton, how long do players need to wait to get the version of Proton with the patches?
Will you delay the new builds until the version of Proton with the bugfixes is generally available to players?
Quoting: pleasereadthemanualcan you fix it yourself?My guess is no.
They can test all they want, but unless they're willing (and capable) to contribute to WINE/Proton I don't see how this can work.
The game is now officially unsupported in Linux. That's why they removed the native version.
Quoting: whateverQuoting: pleasereadthemanualcan you fix it yourself?My guess is no.
They can test all they want, but unless they're willing (and capable) to contribute to WINE/Proton I don't see how this can work.
The game is now officially unsupported in Linux. That's why they removed the native version.
I think Valves take on this is that it's actually supported, but by Valve, not overkill.
I'd like some clarity from Valve on that though. Devs can say they "commit to get it working on Proton", but as pleasereadthemanual asks above, what does that really mean? Who's on the line if you buy that game, play it for 10 hours, then the dev screws it up and it stops working?
Quoting: scaineRealistically, by Valve's own refund rules - no one is one the line. After 2 hours / 2 weeks of buying, that's all the protection you realistically get from buying anything on Steam "Native" or not. They've only given refunds outside of that in special cases.Quoting: whateverQuoting: pleasereadthemanualcan you fix it yourself?My guess is no.
They can test all they want, but unless they're willing (and capable) to contribute to WINE/Proton I don't see how this can work.
The game is now officially unsupported in Linux. That's why they removed the native version.
I think Valves take on this is that it's actually supported, but by Valve, not overkill.
I'd like some clarity from Valve on that though. Devs can say they "commit to get it working on Proton", but as pleasereadthemanual asks above, what does that really mean? Who's on the line if you buy that game, play it for 10 hours, then the dev screws it up and it stops working?
pleasereadthemanual Jun 15, 2023
Quoting: Liam DaweHell, it wasn't until 2015 that Valve started offering those 2 hours in the first 2 weeks of buying terms. Before that, they wouldn't refund you at all except in exceedingly rare circumstances.Quoting: scaineRealistically, by Valve's own refund rules - no one is one the line. After 2 hours / 2 weeks of buying, that's all the protection you realistically get from buying anything on Steam "Native" or not. They've only given refunds outside of that in special cases.Quoting: whateverQuoting: pleasereadthemanualcan you fix it yourself?My guess is no.
They can test all they want, but unless they're willing (and capable) to contribute to WINE/Proton I don't see how this can work.
The game is now officially unsupported in Linux. That's why they removed the native version.
I think Valves take on this is that it's actually supported, but by Valve, not overkill.
I'd like some clarity from Valve on that though. Devs can say they "commit to get it working on Proton", but as pleasereadthemanual asks above, what does that really mean? Who's on the line if you buy that game, play it for 10 hours, then the dev screws it up and it stops working?
Quoting: Liam DaweIndeed, so Native or not, the risk is pretty much the same unless the developer is truly dedicated to their Linux build which is...rare.This is why I stopped buying games pre-emptively, even during sales.
I now only buy games that I intend to play immediately, so that if in future a game stops being supported, at least I'll have got my money's worth out of it in the time I had.
Which I guess means that Valve not having a general refund policy for games which drop support for a platform, means that they're getting less money from me overall.
Quoteand at the same time updating the older version of the diesel engine that PAYDAY 2 for Linux was usingI see their problem! Obviously, Diesel isn't going to be compatible with Steam!
Last edited by Purple Library Guy on 15 June 2023 at 5:53 pm UTC
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