I recently wrote about how it's looking pretty unlikely that Rust will actually be supported on Steam Deck / Linux with Proton, and it's not looking any better right now.
Previously it was just comments from Facepunch Studios' Garry Newman on Twitter, with Newman trying to explain their thoughts on why it hasn't happened yet. Now, we have another and perhaps a bit more public / official answer with their latest official news post on the Rust website including a note at the bottom about it from Alistair McFarlane, the Producer at Facepunch, that reads:
You know, we switched to EAC's new platform with the intention of providing support for the Steam Deck, and so far we haven't done that. So when is it coming?
Well, short answer is we don't know. We don't know if it is. When we discontinued linux support in 2019, one of the core reasons was how the cheating community was exploiting the Linux platform. That's not to say that cheating was super widespread on Linux, but it was safer for cheat developers. And that's not good in a game like Rust where a cheater can ruin weeks of hard work.
Enabling proton support would mean we're asking the EAC team to provide support for a whole other platform, which we fear would reduce their ability to support Windows - our main platform. We don't know whether we should enable one platform at the disadvantage of another.
The one thing we don't want to do is to enable Proton support to only discontinue it six months later. We don't want to encourage players to spend their money on a Deck to play Rust and then be in a position where we want to take that ability away.
For now, we're still weighing up the risks and will continue to explore options with EAC. Don't expect to see Proton support in the near future, but we hope to have it enabled someday.
So it's basically the same story as what Newman explained. They don't wish to potentially open up Rust to more cheat developers again, where they don't seem to feel confident that EAC would be able to keep up with it on top of preventing the cheats on Windows too (which is obviously the main platform).
It is a genuine shame, since Rust is (while quite brutal) a great survival game and very popular. It's also interesting, because clearly they think that EAC don't provide all that great protection on Linux if they're that worried about what would happen again. While again, other games like Apex have it, they're very different games.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Quoting: MohandevirQuoteWhen we discontinued linux support in 2019, one of the core reasons was how the cheating community was exploiting the Linux platform.
They are trying to convince me that 0.1% of the userbase, by their own numbers and assuming that it would mean that all of Linux users are cheaters... Yeah... Right... wrecked the game so much that it attracted their attention to Linux cheating?
I'm... not... buying... it.
I would really like to know on what fact they based this assumption, if it's not just pure made up BS, because they can't say they won't support Linux, because they don't want to and because they hate the platform.
Seriously, it's more insulting than anything else.
I needed this new statement as much as a Facepunch!
the cheating industry move millions of dollars each year, maybe even billions, valve said it thenselves (steam devdays), i wouldnt be surprised if its more profitable to make an cheat software for an game than port the game to linux/make it work with proton.
no one is saying that all linux users are cheatters, the issue is, cheaters are willing to do a lot to cheat, if they have to pay they will, if they have to install an software that is hard to install they will.
hell, i never used an cheat software, but the last time i cracked some software it was way harder than instaling an linux distro, if instaling cheat software is that hard, then i wont be surprised to see some people installing linux just to cheat, and that is the main issue here.
Quoting: 1xokI think an AC system that is not operating system agnostic is doomed to failure from the start. You can already do so much with image recognition that the cheat can also run on a smartphone that films the screen and controls the input via bluetooth. I wouldn't be surprised if there are already ready-made apps for this.
i dont think its that easy to do, but hey, the idea of simulating an bluetooth device is much smarther than the one of puting machines to press buttons literally
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsF7enQY8uI
Mohandevir Oct 11, 2022
Quoting: elmapulQuoting: MohandevirQuoteWhen we discontinued linux support in 2019, one of the core reasons was how the cheating community was exploiting the Linux platform.
They are trying to convince me that 0.1% of the userbase, by their own numbers and assuming that it would mean that all of Linux users are cheaters... Yeah... Right... wrecked the game so much that it attracted their attention to Linux cheating?
I'm... not... buying... it.
I would really like to know on what fact they based this assumption, if it's not just pure made up BS, because they can't say they won't support Linux, because they don't want to and because they hate the platform.
Seriously, it's more insulting than anything else.
I needed this new statement as much as a Facepunch!
the cheating industry move millions of dollars each year, maybe even billions, valve said it thenselves (steam devdays), i wouldnt be surprised if its more profitable to make an cheat software for an game than port the game to linux/make it work with proton.
no one is saying that all linux users are cheatters, the issue is, cheaters are willing to do a lot to cheat, if they have to pay they will, if they have to install an software that is hard to install they will.
hell, i never used an cheat software, but the last time i cracked some software it was way harder than instaling an linux distro, if instaling cheat software is that hard, then i wont be surprised to see some people installing linux just to cheat, and that is the main issue here.
Imo, it's still speculation based on no hard facts... If it was true, we would already see upticks in Linux usage and hear about Linux cheats in other games that permits it... So, I'm totally unconvinced, still. Maybe you are right, but it's too anecdotal to really matter. Not sure that many Windows users are willing or have the knowledge required to install Linux just to cheat for one specific game.
Edit:
And the day Linux usage will make a visible dent in Windows AC will be the day Linux will have hit a critical mass of users. At this point, Linux will require proper support and AC implementations. That's what Facepunch doesn't want to see happen ("we don't want Epic Games to split Windows ressources to support Linux" rhetoric). That makes them even more disgusting, imo.
Last edited by Mohandevir on 11 October 2022 at 2:17 pm UTC
When they finally pulled the client they did offer refunds. I had a number of hours like 20 or 30 and they gave me a refund. I guess depending on your country and whether or not you bought it from the steam or not, getting a refund would have been difficult.
He should have been straight up with the community here though instead of making excuses. Just say that it's not financially worthwhile, they don't have the expertise and will "potentially" make the cheating problem worse.
As the steam deck gains in popularity it will be more difficult to justify this position.
Last edited by jo3fis on 11 October 2022 at 7:50 pm UTC
i found the number.
they estimated that the cheating industry moves at least 100 millions per year.
just an reminder, that was 5 years ago, i think its safe to assume this growth was proportional to the growth in the gaming market.
as for us, we arent 1% of the market, pc is 23% and we are 1% of those 23%.
Last edited by elmapul on 12 October 2022 at 6:10 pm UTC
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