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Second Face Software have announced that their incredibly popular Portal: Revolution mod for Portal 2 has dropped the Native Linux build.

They've had a Native Linux build for a long time, but it became quite problematic and they weren't able to solve the issues players kept encountering. So instead, they're going to ensure it works with Proton where the issues didn't happen.

As they mentioned in their announcement on Steam:

Portal: Revolution, from the start, has included a native Linux build. As some players have recently reported, it was broken because of recent Steam updates. To fix this we have decided to remove the native Linux binaries in favour of Proton. Don't panic.

Our native Linux build sucked. You may have experienced frequent hangs and stutters related to gel rendering or other strange bugs. This stems from a bug in our multithreaded rendering code for gel blobs, and despite our best efforts we were not able to fix it. To make matters worse, it only happens on the native Linux build. Windows and Proton are not affected.

Because of these two reasons we'll ditch the native build and run the game through Proton. Performance should be comparable, if not even better at times and stability is definitely improved.

Valve rated it Steam Deck Verified with the Native Linux version, so this means it will need to be reviewed again with Proton by Valve, otherwise it will cause problems on Steam Deck. For now, you may need to manually opt into using Proton for it in the properties -> Compatibility menu for the game on Steam to run properly.

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In related news, earlier this year they also announced Portal: Revolution 2 is in development, so there's more fun to come for Portal fans.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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11 comments Subscribe

silverhikari 15 hours ago
i am in the camp of as long as they actually support the proton version and not just using it as a second citizen, fine with them removing a native linux build if the build was highly defective
Szkodnix 14 hours ago
As long as it's fully playable via Proton, I don't have any problems with that.

I'm aware that maintaining native Linux games can be nasty for game devs.
ExplosiveDiarrhea 11 hours ago
Good, another project that dropped Linux support! I hope soon no one will lose time writing software for Linux anymore!
hell0 10 hours ago
The game uses a modified source 1 engine (strata source). Source 1 is 20 years old. Linux support was slapped on 13 years ago and relies on opengl.

In my opinion, proton is the better technical choice with its modern proven vulkan-based rendering. The proton version might even outlast both the windows and the (theoretical) native linux version.
Rusty 10 hours ago
I think a lot about the JangaFX post about glibc binary compatibility whenever developers opt to drop their native Linux builds. I know a lot more consideration goes into it than glibc, but man, it's one of many reasons you can never fault developers who'd rather not tackle the gargantuan task of building games natively for Linux.
WMan22 8 hours ago
Proton in my experience is straight up better for source mods. I just wish VAC worked in it, Left 4 Dead 2 is pretty much busted on CachyOS right now.
Vasya Sovari 6 hours ago
Cool. Native Linux builds tend to be lacking in basic features and far buggier in general, so I always default to Proton anyway. As long as they properly test for parity, all good. Contributing upstream to Proton development would be even better
AL2009man 5 hours ago
@hell0 doesn't Source 1 now offers DXVK as a renderer-- oh right, this is a forked version of Source 1... nevermind.
Talon1024 4 hours ago
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How well does Steam Linux Runtime work for making Linux executables run across all the different distributions and Linux setups, I wonder?

I recently got GZDoom and Raze compiled to run with Steam Linux Runtime using the official distrobox image...
TheSHEEEP 3 hours ago
  • Supporter Plus
As long as it's fully playable via Proton, I don't have any problems with that.

I'm aware that maintaining native Linux games can be nasty for game devs.
In theory, I agree with that.

But I see one problem: What do devs actually do in case there is a bug in their game specifically with Proton? Do debuggers, etc. work normally through the compatibility layer?
tohur 32 minutes ago
TBH its the better choice.. I have plenty of Native Linux games that no LONGER work native out the box but swap proton on and works great.. also have TONS of native ports that run MUCH better in proton then native.. I am of the mind set IDGAF how my games work on Linux I just want the best performance I can get and hate to burst the purest die hards most the time proton has the least amount of breakage over time and performs much better then native games


Last edited by tohur on 6 Aug 2025 at 7:37 am UTC
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