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Firaxis Games recently launched their new Leader Pass for Sid Meier's Civilization VI, and it seems they broke it on both macOS and Linux.

The Linux and macOS versions were done by Aspyr Media, who don't really do ports any more. The store page on Steam still shows both as clearly supported though, and the new Leader Pass indicates both are supported platforms too. However, the macOS and Linux support topics on Steam are filling up with people reporting the game is now broken or has major issues on these platforms.

For the Linux version, it seems the update actually downgraded the game to a much older version "1.0.1.104" (I was able to use an old workaround - see the bottom, to get it to launch) with the latest being 1.0.12.9. Even for people on macOS who have managed workarounds, some are reporting other major problems like Civ Vi eating all their RAM.

At least for Linux users, a workaround is to use Proton on it to run the Windows version. Here though, some users report the 2K Launcher doesn't work, but for me it was fine. You can skip the 2K Launcher on Linux with Proton by adding this as a launch argument for the game on Steam:

eval $( echo "%command%" | sed "s/2KLauncher\/LauncherPatcher.exe'.*/Base\/Binaries\/Win64Steam\/CivilizationVI.exe'/" )

It's a shame, as it shows even though they're selling it clearly as supported, seemingly no one at Firaxis / 2K / Aspyr is even testing either Linux or macOS now.

I've reached out to the publisher to see if they have anything to say about what is happening, although they never replied  to my initial email asking about the new DLC. I've also reached out to Aspyr Meda directly about it. Will update if either reply.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Mountain Man Nov 23, 2022
I started playing Civ 6 in Proton because performance in the native Linux version is atrocious. In Linux, it struggles to hit 40fps even on an empty map. In Proton, it's pretty much a locked 60fps even in the end game.
slaapliedje Nov 23, 2022
Quoting: KlaasI'm not surprised after the Bioshock Infinite incident.
Ah, do you remember the times, not so long ago, where a game was bug fixed and completed and then shipped out to people, because we didn't have the internet, if companies fixed a game they'd have to send out physical media to registered users? QA on a game was definitely better, and you had a choice of whether or not you wanted to use a 'fixed' version that could potentially be worse.

Those were the days...

Okay, sure it sucked when you had to mail order a game they kept telling you via letter, that they were out of stock... and none of this amazon prime stuff with one day shipping...
CaptWrangles Nov 23, 2022
That doesn't surprise me. It's been broken on xbox series x/s and ps4/ps5 for almost 2 years crashing the consoles constantly. They still sell it and every review on xbox is 1 star because they won't fix it. 2k blames fraxis which then blames aspyr which then blames 2k if you contact support. The game hasn't received any updates in almost 2 years either except to sell a new package deal. I'm done with 2k. PGA Tour 2k23 is also broken and just came out like a month ago. It's a joke.
Teodosio Nov 23, 2022
I always said that the idea of "porting" is terrible. Porting means taking a Windows code and putting plasters on it until it runs on GNU. It results in inferior releases that eventually break.
The way to go is "native" releases, i.e. developing the code so that it compiles on both Windows and GNU. Many developers are doing that right, e.g. Paradox Interactive.
slaapliedje Nov 24, 2022
Quoting: TeodosioI always said that the idea of "porting" is terrible. Porting means taking a Windows code and putting plasters on it until it runs on GNU. It results in inferior releases that eventually break.
The way to go is "native" releases, i.e. developing the code so that it compiles on both Windows and GNU. Many developers are doing that right, e.g. Paradox Interactive.

The sad thing is, most developers these days create an 'engine' to then build their games on (or license one from another company), and improve from there. Paradox has done this and so it's overall easier for them to just release native builds of their games now, and they've been doing it for years. Imagine if Bethesda had done the same for Morrowind, and they've used updated engines for Oblivion, Skyrim and Fallout 3-4. It'd be easy for them to have provided Linux versions. Some companies just don't care about portability.


Last edited by slaapliedje on 24 November 2022 at 2:54 am UTC
phil995511 Nov 26, 2022
At the release of Civilization VI, they had already partially sabotaged the Linux version of Civilization V which crashed since if it was launched with more than 6 active cores ;-(

Despite numerous failures reported by users, they had never returned the game playable again. The only way to proceed was to launch it with the command :

taskset -c 0,1,2,3 steam steam://rungameid/8930 

It makes you wonder if they are not doing it on purpose...
harre Dec 23, 2022
Update: Today I wanted to play the game and Proton was crashing for me all the time and reverting back to native Linux I have an updated working game again
slaapliedje Dec 23, 2022
Quoting: harreUpdate: Today I wanted to play the game and Proton was crashing for me all the time and reverting back to native Linux I have an updated working game again
Yeah, the native has been working for a few weeks, but has been missing the latest update with the new leaders, have they fixed that yet?
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