It seems the upcoming shooter WARDOGS will actually not have Linux support with Proton at launch. This might end up being the next big shooter - so it's a bit of a shame that we have to wait and see what they will actually do.
GamingOnLinux covered their previous statement, and since then it seems their Community Manager did a bit of a woops in Discord making it seem like it would be officially supported at release. That has now been walked-back with a new official statement of their plans:
We do not officially support Linux and we cannot commit to having support for launch. We are still working on Official Linux Proton compatibility.
This official stance has not changed since pre-release.
We admit there was a mistake in communication by our CM which was unfortunately screenshotted in our Discord and then posted on the linux Reddit, when the official stance has always been 'we are working on proton compatibility'.
Any previous Alpha/Beta test where Linux worked was by happen stance, which led to some users discuss the game as being Linux compatible. However, as previously stated - we do not yet officially support Linux and we are still working on our proton support for WARDOGS. We will update our stance once we have this confirmed. That is our goal.
We cannot commit to having Linux support for our Early Access launch. So please, refund the game if you mistakenly bought it thinking you would be able to run Linux via Proton on September 10th. We hope to have you back as soon as we can confirm official compatibility.
We know this is not what you want to hear... but the continued demand for Linux has been heard and it is still in our sights. Thankyou.
Keep an eye on our dedicated anti-cheat page for compatibility. They were using Easy Anti-Cheat but it seems they're testing something else. We'll note what it has at release and keep it up to date.
🌐 External Sources: steamcommunity.com
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
About the author - Liam Squires-Hand
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly checked on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly.
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18 comments
Personally I just hope they figure it out in a few months and not years.
Especially since Battlefield is currently blocked, being the closest alternative could bring notably higher Linux sales numbers compared to market share.
Especially since Battlefield is currently blocked, being the closest alternative could bring notably higher Linux sales numbers compared to market share.
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mZSq7Fq3qs 5 Sep 2026
I personally could not care less. But it would be nice I quess.
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Sandro_The_Skelly 5 Sep 2026
We cannot commit to having Linux support for our Early Access launch.Sigh... Yeah, so they're not gonna add the support, maybe ever. You know, casual drill: first they don't support Linux (even through Proton), because they don't want to, later they'll found another excuse, like "bEcAuSe OuR kErNeL-lEvEl aC cAn't RuN oN lInUx, AnD lInUx HaS cHeAtErS". If it's not kernel-level now, it will be, like every similar game and publisher is doing the same thing.
Why leaving out a new and dynamic market (Linux and handhelds and such)? Just because they can. I never going to touch this game, ever.
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StalePopcorn 5 Sep 2026
Still better than Bungie Studios' "ban upon arrival" (basically a fk you, afaic) stance on Linux gamers trying out Destiny
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Sounds to me like whoever wrote this bit has no clue what Linux is and how Proton works,
Any previous Alpha/Beta test where Linux worked was by happen stance, which led to some users discuss the game as being Linux compatible., this one in particular sounds like there's a chance it'll keep working.
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ScottCarammell 6 Sep 2026
honk shoo, get with the times or get left behind old man
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The key words are "may come later"... not as later as any interest on the game. And only "maybe".
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I figured out I was living under a rock, LOL. What happened to the software industry? Remember when you could go into a store, look at a software box, and it would say "PC and Mac Compatible"? Sometimes it even included both versions on the same CD.
I'm all for Steam. Having a physical copy isn't really my main point. I know times have changed, and we have GOG, Steam, and other software distribution vendors. But why does it seem like software developers only make apps for Windows and call it a day? Or at least that's how it seems with gaming.
Is it really that big of a burden to go back to the old way? No emulator needed. No Proton needed.
Seriously... Windows, Mac, and even Linux. Have a guy on the Linux team. Heck, I'd even dare say code it once and let AI help convert it to native Linux and Mac versions.
I love Linux. I love paying developers a fair price. I'm even willing to pay $45-$60 for a game. Just try not to make everything so one-sided.
Oh well... just my thoughts. Rant over.
I'm all for Steam. Having a physical copy isn't really my main point. I know times have changed, and we have GOG, Steam, and other software distribution vendors. But why does it seem like software developers only make apps for Windows and call it a day? Or at least that's how it seems with gaming.
Is it really that big of a burden to go back to the old way? No emulator needed. No Proton needed.
Seriously... Windows, Mac, and even Linux. Have a guy on the Linux team. Heck, I'd even dare say code it once and let AI help convert it to native Linux and Mac versions.
I love Linux. I love paying developers a fair price. I'm even willing to pay $45-$60 for a game. Just try not to make everything so one-sided.
Oh well... just my thoughts. Rant over.
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I have been on Linux for 5 years, and this is the first game I'd FOMO on if they don't end up supporting Linux.
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How this situation played out over the weekend was quite funny. After the announcement, there was a lot of back and fourth about supporting Linux. This support was met with a lot of "All Linux users are cheaters". This was Thursday and early Friday if I remember right.
Fast forward to last night, the last 12-18 hours of the beta. The game on windows only with the new anti-cheat was absolutely full of cheaters. The discord was full of people complaining about the cheaters. The cheaters weren't being banned either, but there was speculation that the bans will come once the game releases into early access on Thursday (9/10).
Personally, I am new to Linux and I love it (even with the new headaches of learning). This announcement really sucked the fun out of the weekend and made me seriously debate refunding, I probably will refund if the game doesn't have Linux support around New Years. Especially after playing through the last beta on Linux and it running so much better.
Fast forward to last night, the last 12-18 hours of the beta. The game on windows only with the new anti-cheat was absolutely full of cheaters. The discord was full of people complaining about the cheaters. The cheaters weren't being banned either, but there was speculation that the bans will come once the game releases into early access on Thursday (9/10).
Personally, I am new to Linux and I love it (even with the new headaches of learning). This announcement really sucked the fun out of the weekend and made me seriously debate refunding, I probably will refund if the game doesn't have Linux support around New Years. Especially after playing through the last beta on Linux and it running so much better.
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Quoting: pyronaticThis announcement really sucked the fun out of the weekend and made me seriously debate refunding, I probably will refund if the game doesn't have Linux support around New Years.You should get a refund while you can. It doesn't work, and they haven't committed to it ever working.
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This criticism isn't aimed at the WARDOGS devs.
They can't help other people ruined their language.
Yet, I find it frustrating that, due to game publishers conflating "unsupported" and "blocked" the WARDOGS team and other teams are unable to clearly communicate their level of linux support.
They can't help other people ruined their language.
Yet, I find it frustrating that, due to game publishers conflating "unsupported" and "blocked" the WARDOGS team and other teams are unable to clearly communicate their level of linux support.
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Quoting: pyronaticThis announcement really sucked the fun out of the weekend and made me seriously debate refunding, I probably will refund if the game doesn't have Linux support around New Years.Are you sure that you can still get a refund that late? The safer way would be request refund now and buy again when/if support is there.
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Kuduzkehpan 9 Sep 2026
I got closed beta invitation. thats good then i got linux-chat channel removed in wardogs discord server.
then i got uninstalled wardogs. and never ever look back. Now im with other games. if there wasnt any i would code one for my self with AI tools. They cant take gaming in linux from us. but i would be appretieted with passionate company or foundation just for Linux Exclusive game developing. so i could yell gaming industry "fog u all" just for fun.
also from the beginning i dont thing this so called new economy etc mechanics will bring a hype to the genre. this was tried before with many other genres. and failed because when u have no new content and all of em consumed its over for everyone.
then i got uninstalled wardogs. and never ever look back. Now im with other games. if there wasnt any i would code one for my self with AI tools. They cant take gaming in linux from us. but i would be appretieted with passionate company or foundation just for Linux Exclusive game developing. so i could yell gaming industry "fog u all" just for fun.
also from the beginning i dont thing this so called new economy etc mechanics will bring a hype to the genre. this was tried before with many other genres. and failed because when u have no new content and all of em consumed its over for everyone.
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This game looked really cool, I was about to buy two for me and a friend then remembered I uninstalled windows a few months ago due to getting fed up with it encrypting my drive and locking me out (after explicitly decrypting it many times). It's one thing to need to do it to upgrade firmware or something, but to turn up one day and find you can't boot because something happened that you didn't do, is pretty infuriating. I thought I'd try Bazzite and haven't looked back. The anti cheat software doesn't work for me on windows either since I dual boot other things and secure boot causes too many headaches - though I'd enable it if it got this game working on bazzite.
Also, I reckon gaming on steam or on bazzite is probably the better brand than saying on linux. It's a bigger an easier support target than just saying linux is. I mean a lot of windows people get freaked out by the idea of having to type something ;)
I am just going to move onto another game for now - there are plenty that work on Bazzite these days.
Also, I reckon gaming on steam or on bazzite is probably the better brand than saying on linux. It's a bigger an easier support target than just saying linux is. I mean a lot of windows people get freaked out by the idea of having to type something ;)
I am just going to move onto another game for now - there are plenty that work on Bazzite these days.
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>We are still working on Official Linux Proton compatibility.
And what could they be working on? Elytra is Embark's anit-cheat. They could've just said they picked an anti-cheat that doesn't support Linux deliberately and are waiting for an upstream release with Linux support and that there's nothing they can do. Not sure the Elytra A/B tests in The Finals and Arc Raiders include Linux?
They've also updated their thread on steamcommunity forums:
And what could they be working on? Elytra is Embark's anit-cheat. They could've just said they picked an anti-cheat that doesn't support Linux deliberately and are waiting for an upstream release with Linux support and that there's nothing they can do. Not sure the Elytra A/B tests in The Finals and Arc Raiders include Linux?
They've also updated their thread on steamcommunity forums:
25/09/2026 Update:
We do not have any additional information to share regarding WARDOGS Linux compatibility or timeline, other than reiterating that we hear and acknowledge the demand and it is still our desire to officially support Linux via Proton. Repeatedly attempting to contact developers via DM, or in a couple of rare instances messaging developers family members, will not speed up or change the timeline.
We know this behaviour is not reflective of the wider Linux community, so as an update to everyone who has been respectfully asking for news: please know the team are working on this but we won’t be repeatedly updating our stance or progress without definitive information to share. As soon as we have confirmed compatibility, we will gladly announce it. Until then, thank you for your patience.
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