We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.

Here we go again. Another game is moving from Steam to become an Epic Exclusive and this time it's Fall Guys.

It's the same situation as Rocket League. Epic acquired the studio, eventually made it free to play and pulled all new players from Steam to force them onto the Epic Store and that's what's happening with Fall Guys on June 21st. So anyone who owns it on Steam can continue playing and get updates but no new players on Steam will be able to get it.

For Proton and Steam Deck, this complicates things. Right now, Fall Guys has the Easy Anti-Cheat file needed to run on Linux and Steam Deck, although it's in the wrong place and needs moving to work (see here). Now, there's really no reason for them to keep it there and certainly the Epic Store release won't think about Linux and Steam Deck at all since Epic don't support either.

YouTube Thumbnail
YouTube videos require cookies, you must accept their cookies to view. View cookie preferences.
Accept Cookies & Show   Direct Link

What to do then? Well, there's always the cheap knock-off of Stumble Guys which appears to work perfectly although it's clearly a much cheaper copy that really doesn't feel as good. You never know what might happen though, perhaps they might see a surge in players and just keep on making it better.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
14 Likes
About the author -
author picture
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
See more from me
The comments on this article are closed.
24 comments
Page: «2/3»
  Go to:

Sakuretsu May 17, 2022
F*** Epic Games!
wytrabbit May 17, 2022
View PC info
  • Mega Supporter
QuoteWell, there's always the cheap knock-off of Stumble Guys which appears to work perfectly although it's clearly a much cheaper copy that really doesn't feel as good.

It's also F2P
Lanz May 18, 2022
Vote with your wallet/playtime. No Steam = no sale.
gradyvuckovic May 18, 2022
Quoting: MohandevirFrom another pov, those that really wanted to play this game had plenty of time to get the game on Steam. I suspect it didn't sell much more, on Steam. It's just sad for those who paid full price to get mixed with free to play players... I just hope for them that they have some form of bonus, but I doubt it.

Edit:

I think that's what bothers me the most... A priced game that suddenly switch to F2P when it doesn't sell anymore... It feels like: "Let's try to skim our original fanbase again."

There is no way I'm going to support that.

That's the worst part in my opinion too.

Because there's a very clear distinction between what is a free to play game and what is a paid game.

There's an unspoken contract of difference between the two, that they both offer a different experience.

A paid game is something you pay upfront for, to get everything included, without paywalls or excessive grinding. Any MTXs in that context would be very limited, cheap, or mainly DLC for 'additional' content that was outside of the scope of the original game, but the bulk of the main content of the game should be unlocked, because you've already paid for it.

Whereas a free to play game, is free to start playing sure, to get a taste, a sample if you will, but most of the content will be behind some kind of mtx paywall, which is how the developers make back their money for the game. You 'play for free', but 'pay for content'.

I prefer buying paid games, because I prefer having a honest transaction where I know upfront how much money a game is asking me to pay to unlock 'everything', but mtx games hide that cost until you get deep enough into them to see it.

But worse than either of those two options is a game starting as a paid game then turning into free to play!

That's punishing the people who bought the game at launch.

Of course the obvious counter argument is:
Quote"Well how is a game going permanently free any different to a game being given away for free for a week? Or a game being discounted 50% during a sale? Or a price drop? Obviously people who buy the game at launch will pay launch prices. That's the price of being an early adopter."
But I'm not objecting to someone else getting the 'paid game' experience for cheaper. I'm not unhappy when I see Skyrim deeply discounted, even though I paid full price at launch for it, because I haven't lost anything.

What I'm objecting to is having the paid game experience that I paid for, taken away, and replaced with a free to play experience for all players, including the original buyers of the game.

I'm objecting to buying a game, only for a short time later to experience everything being behind a paywall 'free to play' style, as if I haven't already paid full price for the game. And companies arbitrarily suddenly deciding that my initial purchase has been redefined and deemed to be nothing more than 'well that was the first season pass of content, from now on everything else is behind a paywall'.
Valck May 18, 2022
Quote[…]the Easy Anti-Cheat file needed to run on Linux and Steam Deck, although it's in the wrong place and needs moving to work[…]
Honi soit qui mal y pense.

Not that I care, the mere fact that it does have that heavy DRM would already put me off, if it had a native Linux version to begin with, and the genre were of interest in the first place.

From the start, everything Epic announced or did felt like underhanded attempts to get at Steam.
I'm fine with competition, and Steam really needs some, but why can't that be one that tries to trump them with positive and open features instead of trying to be worse for their audience in every which way.
Dribbleondo May 18, 2022
Quoting: BalkanSpyOk, what Epic just did is an really underhanded move. I mean, the true fault lies at the developers Mediatonic for accepting such an offer, but this doesn't makes Epic's behavior any less shady.

Mediatonic were bought out by Epic at I believe at the end of last year. How is that shady exactly? Because they made a business deal you didn't like? Because that's not what shady means. Shady means it was done on the down low away from prying eyes, which this deal wasn't.

Them buying out Mediatonic and being EGS exclusive was the next step, and anyone who paid attention to the buyout news shouldn't be surprised by this. They did this with Psyonix and Rocket League, so it stood to reason Fall Guys was going to Epics' store too. I don't like it either, but I can't say i'm surprised, let alone feign it for internet points.


Last edited by Dribbleondo on 18 May 2022 at 9:12 am UTC
Jello May 18, 2022
Quoting: Craggles086Was thinking of sending Fall Guys my money.

I guess that’s cancelled then.
If Epic are paying them they don’t need my money anyway.

The game went free to play so you wouldn't be paying them money regardless
NerdNoiseRadio May 18, 2022
Hi! It's my first post on GamingOnLinux (though I've been reading articles for a while)!

So, I am a proud and happy owner of a Steam Deck, and my Gaming PC (after a little tweaking and "elbow grease" on my part) is also running as well as the now humble GTX1070 and 7600K inside it can manage using Ubuntu Studio 22.04 - even though, as probably already hinted at by which distro I'm running, the "gaming PC" gets MUCH more use and time and care as a "glorified podcasting machine" than it does an actual gaming platform.

I've been curious about Fall Guys for some time. It seems like a really neat game. Initially, prior to the release of the Steam Deck, I had been awaiting a Nintendo Switch release, since up til the release of the Steam Deck, the Switch was my most heavily played system. But after the release of the Deck (which just ironically coincided with the long-awaited announcement of said Switch port), I no longer cared about having it on Switch, under the philosophy that I could just play it on the Steam Deck instead!....

....and then I read today's article. :-(

If you would, please indulge me in a pair of what are probably really stupid questions:

1) it leaves Steam on June 21st. They say current Steam Rocket League players (me - one of my most frequently played games, even) will be grandfathered in, and bs able to keep playing Rocket League (apparently indefinitely). So, if I buy Fall Guys on Steam prior to that cutoff date, would I likewise get grandfathered in? Or is it a situation where if I spend the $20, I'll only be able to enjoy it for a month before losing it?

2) through nothing but sheer laziness, I have not [yet] installed the "Heroic Launcher" on my Deck, which as I understand it, is a great backdoor to the Epic store (among possibly other things). So, say I fail to secure myself via Steam, why wouldn't Heroic be a good rescue for this?

I know Epic is dumb [technical term] for ignoring Linux, and we Linux gamers. But this article is making it sound like "Fall Guys is limited time for us and there is absolutely nothing we can do about it", when it seems to me that we already have potential long-term workarounds for this....

.....and I was just hoping someone would be ready, willing, and able to help me untangle this. I mean, it's not like this is a "fates of nations" situation for me at all. But it is a "fates of $20" thing, as depending on the outcome, I'm either gonna buy it on Steam as quickly as I can, or never buy it on Steam ever, and just look into playing it on my XBox Series X or PS5.

Appreciate the guidance, and thank you in advance! :-)

Cheers!
Liam Dawe May 18, 2022
Anyone who buys before June 21st keep it. No one will have it removed from Steam, it only affects new players after the switch to Epic.

Heroic will not rescue games like this that use client-side anti-cheat, unless the developer opts to support Linux / Proton / Steam Deck through Epic which is VERY unlikely since Epic has absolutely no support of Linux for the store.
Ehvis May 18, 2022
View PC info
  • Supporter Plus
Quoting: Liam DaweHeroic will not rescue games like this that use client-side anti-cheat, unless the developer opts to support Linux / Proton / Steam Deck through Epic which is VERY unlikely since Epic has absolutely no support of Linux for the store.

That remains to be seen. If the back end has enabled proton support, then it is possible that moving the support files into the Epic install will make it work. Soon somebody will be able to make an Epic account and test it out.
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
The comments on this article are closed.