Every article tag can be clicked to get a list of all articles in that category. Every article tag also has an RSS feed! You can customize an RSS feed too!
We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.

Aspyr Media sent out a tweet today for Linux gamers stating that Civilization VI [Steam] for Linux is still possible.

This is a good sign, but we still don't have much information as to what exactly is going on. Originally the game was confirmed by the publisher to me directly, and a tweet from the official Civilization confirmed a Linux version. Then recently Aspyr Media said it was a possibility.

This new tweet doesn't offer anything new, but the fact that they are still talking about it should be taken as a good sign.

Wanted to address a section of our fans that may feel left out recently. Dear Linux users, we haven't forgotten you! CivVI is still possible

— Aspyr Media (@AspyrMedia) October 24, 2016


A developer from Aspyr Media also said this on Reddit when asked what stage it was at:

QuoteWe are still in a research state at this point. Bottom line, we need to prove to ourselves and our partners that a Linux version can perform to our standards. What I can say in ernest is, we are actively pursuing that viability standard.

 

I really hope Aspyr Media manage to pull through for us! Whatever the issues they are facing may be, let's hope we get such a massively popular title.

The game has currently over 100K people playing, and it's constantly sat in the top five most played games on Steam right now. To miss out on this, would be a tragedy for us.

Thanks for pointing out the tweet to me Gary.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Aspyr Media
0 Likes
About the author -
author picture
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check 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. Find me on Mastodon.
See more from me
The comments on this article are closed.
44 comments
Page: «4/5»
  Go to:

voyager2102 Oct 25, 2016
Quoting: Crazy PenguinSo if Aspyr does need more time to evaluate a Linux port, they can have it.
The biggest problem here is the uncertainty. Linux users usually have a few options with games: Wine, Dual Boot, VM, and due to the long years of little to no games most of us know how to work around games that don't show up on our platform of choice.
Don't misunderstand me - I'd rather wait half a year for a linux port than having to play Civ on Windows but for me to make the effort I will need a commitment by the developer that I will not wait in vain. The uncertainty is what will probably push me to just get it over with, buy the game on windows together with a new motherboard (and add my old graphics card) and run it in a virtual Windows box in my Win10 VM.

Uncertainty means that every day a certain percentage of the target group will cave in. Uncertainty means that every day they wait with the announcement their potential customer base is shrinking and the financial rationale of porting the game will look less and less appealing. It is already bad enough that they created this uncertainty at the worst possible moment: during the actual release when most people make their buying decission.
Daifuco Oct 25, 2016
I hate to say it but at the moment I am using Linux for work and ... not Linux for entertainment.
My two main games are Street Fighter and CIV, both are supposed to come to linux but I am a bit bored of hoping.
I will hapilly switch over as soon as those two games are available.

Spoiler, click me
civ6 is amazing, best civ i have played


Last edited by Daifuco on 25 October 2016 at 10:48 am UTC
bingus Oct 25, 2016
View PC info
  • Supporter
I own Civ 5, and thought it's really well done. I'd like to play 6 but I can never find the time these days! The Civ series is easily one of the biggest time sinks - one of those games where you suddenly realise you're still playing at 3am.

I'm more drawn to things I can easily drop in and out of now, or finish quickly.
Breeze Oct 25, 2016
From what I have seen, the game isn't even worth it if you plan on single player because the AI is worse than Civ V.
Kimyrielle Oct 25, 2016
Quoting: soulsourceThere's one thing that I'd really like in case we won't see a port:
A long and detailed explanation why porting this game would not be worth the effort.

Please don't get me wrong. I'm not looking for justification by Aspyr, as (not?) making the port is their and their business partner's decision. I'm just curious if there are technical reasons, what those technical reasons are, and if the community can do something about them (think: fix certain bugs in the open source graphics drivers, work on missing GL extensions,...). Sadly though, I'm pretty certain that Aspyr will not be able to provide this information due to NDAs...

If anything this teaches us how multi-platform deployment is NOT done right. Firaxis clearly wanted a Linux port (and said so), but they obviously failed to incorporate that objective into their development process. They made a Windows game, apparently not caring about anything they do being hard or even impossible to get to run on Linux. And when the entire thing was (almost) done, they gave it to Aspyr and said "There, get out your magic wand and make it run on Linux!"

And that's just not how it works.

If you want to deploy multi-platform, you need to develop multi-platform. At the very least, get Aspyr on board early on and keep them informed. That way they could have at least said "Oh guys, if you do this and that, it will be a pain in the arse to port the game later on."
Shugyousha Oct 25, 2016
Civ V was ported by Aspyr and for me it works much better than Feral's ports of the XCOMs. I heard that the graphics of Civ V are worse on the Linux version compared to the Windows one but I never noticed.

I am still wondering why they Firaxis announces a Linux version and then suddenly there is talk about it being a mere possibility. Having more transparency and getting more insight into what the reasons for this sudden change are would be nice.

I for my part will wait until a Linux version is released before buying it.
killyou Oct 25, 2016
I bought it and I should've waited. Civ 5 is probably more enjoyable right now. I can't get into the new graphics style either. I wish the strategic view which I'm mostly using looked like this: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lENtdImXgkE/maxresdefault.jpg. Instead I feel like playing Travian through the web browser.
gojul Oct 25, 2016
Honestly the main difference on civ5 graphics between linuw and windows comes from the water which is much more beautiful on wincrap. But I prefer playing on linux even with less shiny water unless I play a network game with a friend who did not purify his computer.

And now waiting for civ6...
jedidiah_lnx Oct 25, 2016
Quoting: melkemind
Quoting: BTREEdit: Just saw the reddit statement. I don't know what they could possibly be researching at this stage. The OSX port will be using OpenGL so it's not an additional API issue. Besides which, they've had (presumably) several months to look at the game and code. The lack of clarity and wording makes me suspect it's simply a investment/returns for man hours issue. However well rationalized by them, I still feel like I'm being treated like a second class citizen.

Hold on a second now. The wording of their statement almost suggests they actually made a Linux port and it sucked, so 2K pulled the plug on it. Why else would they need to research and prove that their port can perform up to standards? Either that or the Mac port was not up to standards so 2K axed the Linux port.

I dunno. It seems like the challenges of porting to Linux would be pretty identical to the challenges of porting to MacOS. I would expect all of the same kind of hardware support and driver quality snags. Except it's easier for them to raise the minimum spec on us.

To be perfectly honest, I was a little shocked at the requirements for Civ5. As a turn based game I expected it to be usable on something with a less than stellar GPU (like those i915 Mac Minis).
ungutknut Oct 25, 2016
I think it's all just social media marketing. Aspyr is learning from Feral it seems. Of course CivVI will come to linux.
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
The comments on this article are closed.