The big new RPG Where Winds Meet release works well on Linux

Where Winds Meet is a new free to play game on Steam that's doing some big numbers right now, and thankfully it seems to work great on Linux with Proton. Tested with Proton 10, so far I haven't encountered any issues.

What is it? Set during the turbulent era of tenth-century China with a Wuxia theme, it's an open-world action-adventure RPG. It's not directly an MMO though. It sort-of blends the worlds of solo and online play together. You can play it entirely alone, or team up with up with friends to play together. But, it does have some MMO features in it too like guilds and group activities. When starting the game, you choose initially how you want to play it. It's a curious mixture.

Proving to be popular too with it hitting an all-time peak of 193,860 players online on November 16th following the launch on November 14th.

Surprisingly, it doesn't appear to have anti-cheat. There's nothing listed on the Steam page, and it works out of the box with Proton 10. So for now it's not listed on our dedicated anti-cheat page but that could change with the popularity of it, so we'll be keeping a close eye on this one. Hopefully for players interested it will just continue working.

Performance at 2560x1440 on my Ryzen 5800x + Radeon 6800 XT on the defaults seems mostly great. Some blips down to 50FPS during the intense intro scene, but other than that it has been smooth. This is with most settings on Ultra, only Ambient Occlusion and Tessellation are on High.

It does commit two annoying sins: a forced intro with no ability to change settings. And, you cannot change settings on the main menu, only once you login with your character. Both quite hostile user experiences.

As it's free to play, there are in-game purchases which the developer and publisher has promised "no pay-to-win mechanics to ensure a fair gameplay environment".

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From the press release:

Where Winds Meet boasts a vast, intricately crafted open world filled with life, featuring over 20 distinct regions to explore. The game harmoniously integrates history with the imaginative essence of the Wuxia world. With more than 10,000 unique NPCs, each with their own personalities and responses, players can shape their interactions, turning characters into trusted allies or sworn enemies based on their choices.

The game offers players the opportunity to master over 40 unique Martial Mystic Arts and an arsenal of weapons, including Spears, Swords, Dual Blades, Glaive, Umbrella, and Fans, and unlock distinctive martial arts skills, including Acupuncture Hitting, Lion's Roar, Merciful Picking, and Tai Chi.

Choose to embark on a journey as a lone swordsman or team up with up to 4 others on your adventure, as players can immerse themselves in over 150 hours of rich, narratively driven exploration and adventure. Those looking to test their newly established skills on the battlefield can take part in PVP battles against other players.

Craft your own legend and weave your own destiny as Where Winds Meet lets players pick the job role that best suits them. Players can pick from the role of a doctor, merchant, assassin or bounty hunter. Decide the path you take, whether that’s good or evil, the choices to stay true to your original aspiration or throw it all away, all in the name of freedom and unbound adventure.

Something that does concern me a bit is the apparent use of generative AI. Specifically, it seems they may be using some kind of AI chatbox for some (not all) NPCs, which is not listed on the Steam page. There's plenty of reports out there on it - just search for "AI" on their Reddit and you'll see loads. Hopefully Valve will get them to update the store page to clearly note any generative AI use for players to get a clear picture.