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Cave Story+ 2026 major update out now - Native Linux version dropped

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Last updated: 11 Jun 2026 at 9:01 am UTC

The highly rated action-adventure platformer Cave Story+ now has the massive "Cave Story+ Update 2026" available but they dropped the Native Linux version.

You'll now have to use Proton by default for the Steam version. If you have Steam open, restarting it will have it swapped over to whatever Proton version you have set overall. Valve previously rated it as Steam Deck Playable with Proton 7. Looks like Valve need to give it a re-test for the new update and newer Proton versions as that's pretty outdated now.

This update was released in Beta back in April, but now it's out for everyone. There's a lot it adds to the game including a 2-player mode, mod support, enhanced visuals, and much more. It's mostly bringing over all the modern console port changes to the PC version. Expect to see the best version of it yet if you go diving back in.

Cave Story+ 2026 screenshot on Linux

You could also try the doukutsu-rs project, which is a reimplementation of the Cave Story (Doukutsu Monogatari) engine with many quality-of-life improvements. They're working on support for the big new update.

Release Date: 22nd November 2011
Platform: ⚛ Proton / Wine
Official links:Steam
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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6 comments

Ehvis 22 hours ago
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Not only did they drop support, they deleted the depot. Time for a support issue.
missingno 21 hours ago
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As if I didn't have enough reasons to hate Nicalis.
Cley_Faye 18 hours ago
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Nicalis brought some great games, but they really are hard to like.
rea987 17 hours ago
The community kept warning them to not remove the native Linux version, but they deleted it anyway. Sigh... Time to diddle with old manifestids...

Last edited by rea987 on 10 Jun 2026 at 5:18 pm UTC
Cley_Faye 16 hours ago
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For added fun, I had the game installed. So it is still installed, but can't be uninstalled, and can't be played. I just have a greyed out "install" button.

Nooooot great.
Phlebiac 1 hour ago
For anyone (like me) who got it from some old Humble Bundle - reminder that the old Linux build is still available to download from there. The Windows and macOS builds are from Dec 2012 / Jan 2013 respectively, for an idea of build age (it doesn't say a date for the Linux packages).
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