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Football Manager 2019 announced and sadly it's not coming to Linux

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We will start the day with a bit of sad news, as the latest version of the popular Football Manager series Football Manager 2019 is not coming to Linux.

Announced today, Football Manager 2019 is only listing Windows and Mac on Steam. A user on Twitter reached out about the missing Linux version, to which the director of Football Manager simply replied that it was correct.

We followed up to ask why that is and the reply was this:

cost/benefit analysis. It unfortunately wasn't selling enough on Linux to cover the QA costs, let alone the dev cost. :(

Sports Interactive first put the game on Linux back in November 2013, which was considered a really good thing for Linux gamers considering how popular the title is. Looking at the 2018 edition, right now it has over thirty thousand people playing it (the peak today being nearly double that), so to have a game as popular as that no longer support Linux is a bit of a loss.

If it's not selling enough as they say to cover the costs, then you can't really argue against that. It sadly doesn't make sense for all games, even if they're popular on one platform they won't always be on another.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Sports, Steam
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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.
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MVinhas Aug 6, 2018
I bought a Windows Phone smartphone back in 2015. I really liked that OS and didn't care about being developed by Microsoft. Windows Phone was at his peak, with a good set of apps (nothing like Android or iOS, but still) and a decent performance. Then, the company A stated that they will not release the next version of their app on WP. Ok. Some weeks later, Company B anounced the same. And the downfall of WP started, IIRC on late 2015.

I hope this isn't happening on Linux Gaming world, Rust abandoning Linux was a huge letdown, now Football Manager...two AAA games and I really like both. Thing is, since 2012 until this date we didn't had news like this, the number of AAA games was always increasing. I'm kinda worried because I've seen this before.
Liam Dawe Aug 6, 2018
Quoting: MVinhasI bought a Windows Phone smartphone back in 2015. I really liked that OS and didn't care about being developed by Microsoft. Windows Phone was at his peak, with a good set of apps (nothing like Android or iOS, but still) and a decent performance. Then, the company A stated that they will not release the next version of their app on WP. Ok. Some weeks later, Company B anounced the same. And the downfall of WP started, IIRC on late 2015.

I hope this isn't happening on Linux Gaming world, Rust abandoning Linux was a huge letdown, now Football Manager...two AAA games and I really like both. Thing is, since 2012 until this date we didn't had news like this, the number of AAA games was always increasing. I'm kinda worried because I've seen this before.
Rust, according to one of the developers, is only a temporary situation due to Unity issues and driver bugs. Their situation can't really be compared with this, since they didn't directly remove support due to sales.

This isn't the first time we've had news like this and it hasn't really changed anything when it happened before. There's The Witcher 3, Darksiders 1 & 2, Carmageddon, Street Fighter, Project Cars and plenty of others. So yeah, it's happened before, will happen again and nothing's really changed overall in my opinion.
x_wing Aug 6, 2018
Quoting: LeopardPeople on Linux don't buy games

Well, my last credit card bill can prove you're wrong

Edit: I feel a lot of negative mood today..

Quoting: MVinhasI bought a Windows Phone smartphone back in 2015. I really liked that OS and didn't care about being developed by Microsoft. Windows Phone was at his peak, with a good set of apps (nothing like Android or iOS, but still) and a decent performance. Then, the company A stated that they will not release the next version of their app on WP. Ok. Some weeks later, Company B anounced the same. And the downfall of WP started, IIRC on late 2015.

I hope this isn't happening on Linux Gaming world, Rust abandoning Linux was a huge letdown, now Football Manager...two AAA games and I really like both. Thing is, since 2012 until this date we didn't had news like this, the number of AAA games was always increasing. I'm kinda worried because I've seen this before.

Lets get some perspective: We "lost" two AAA that didn't get a lot of audience in our platform and one of them was a complete disaster at QA (if we can say there was such thing on that project).

But this year we got Tomb Raider and before the end of the year we will get Life Is Strange 2 and Warhammer 2. Not to mention that we are getting the first Battle Royale like game for Linux in the upcoming weeks. Sometime it's all related on how you want to see things, so if you have a bad mood due that you were big fans of Rust & FM, you only have to feel bad for the latter, as the former will still get the Linux version (with null support as always).


Last edited by x_wing on 6 August 2018 at 3:08 pm UTC
Leopard Aug 6, 2018
Guys , i think i couldn't express myself enough.

Sure , we can say screw FM , it is the same game every year anyway. And i agree as a FM owner who last bought FM 2016 then said screw it.

But one least game means maybe one less newcomer. When people are hoping on Linux , normally they look at the native games available first.

Yes , i'm also started to spend much much more when i started using full time Linux. But appearently that is not enough despite our efforts.

Things is , we need another push in some way. Otherwise i'm afraid we will see many more series like that fading away. According to last response of Paradox ( covered here as an article ) they're the possible next publisher can do that.

I don't know also why you are so optimistic. We surely know , at a first glance maybe everyone can say " At least we're getting indies no matter what " but even situation on there is not bright. Because indie games we get are mostly from new people with their first game ever , thanks to Unity and Unreal's Linux support they also give us Linux builds. But most of them don't plan Linux for their next title. ( According to back2gaming interview )

In AAA terms , Feral is the last stronghold. And we're also not getting all games of theirs. Some of them are Mac only.

To sum it up ; until a new push about Linux gaming, that trend seems to be continued.
bradgy Aug 6, 2018
Quoting: FredOthe 47 very good looking games sitting at the top of my wishlist.

Are you me?
HerrLange Aug 6, 2018
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AHHRGGHHHH!

Typically the first version since ages officially released in Germany won't come to Linux. I was really looking out for it. :-(

As they obviously already ported their engine, it's hard to believe (at least for me) that it is that much effort to support at least Ubuntu/SteamOS. Maybe they also fear the user comments if not tested properly on a loot of Linux distros.
Leopard Aug 6, 2018
Quoting: madchaotikanAHHRGGHHHH!

Typically the first version since ages officially released in Germany won't come to Linux. I was really looking out for it. :-(

As they obviously already ported their engine, it's hard to believe (at least for me) that it is that much effort to support at least Ubuntu/SteamOS. Maybe they also fear the user comments if not tested properly on a loot of Linux distros.

Reason is probably they also need to hire / pay a Linux specific dev if anything occurs in support terms.
libgradev Aug 6, 2018
And this is the trouble with a small market...

Niche games won't always sell enough.

I'm a little sad personally, as I used to play footie management games back in the day, but I just don't have the time now and as much as I love that SI have supported Linux - I haven't purchased FM recently...
MVinhas Aug 6, 2018
Quoting: liamdawe
Quoting: MVinhasI bought a Windows Phone smartphone back in 2015. I really liked that OS and didn't care about being developed by Microsoft. Windows Phone was at his peak, with a good set of apps (nothing like Android or iOS, but still) and a decent performance. Then, the company A stated that they will not release the next version of their app on WP. Ok. Some weeks later, Company B anounced the same. And the downfall of WP started, IIRC on late 2015.

I hope this isn't happening on Linux Gaming world, Rust abandoning Linux was a huge letdown, now Football Manager...two AAA games and I really like both. Thing is, since 2012 until this date we didn't had news like this, the number of AAA games was always increasing. I'm kinda worried because I've seen this before.
Rust, according to one of the developers, is only a temporary situation due to Unity issues and driver bugs. Their situation can't really be compared with this, since they didn't directly remove support due to sales.

This isn't the first time we've had news like this and it hasn't really changed anything when it happened before. There's The Witcher 3, Darksiders 1 & 2, Carmageddon, Street Fighter, Project Cars and plenty of others. So yeah, it's happened before, will happen again and nothing's really changed overall in my opinion.

There is one thing that separates Football Manager from those titles and many more AAA titles: day one Linux support, five years in a row. And this is always one of the most played games on Steam, probably in the top 10 most of the time.

FM2018 (and FM2017, for that matter) are more than enough if you want to keep Linux and play FM, but that doesn't mean it isn't a huge loss.
x_wing Aug 6, 2018
Quoting: LeopardGuys , i think i couldn't express myself enough.

Sure , we can say screw FM , it is the same game every year anyway. And i agree as a FM owner who last bought FM 2016 then said screw it.

But one least game means maybe one less newcomer. When people are hoping on Linux , normally they look at the native games available first.

Yes , i'm also started to spend much much more when i started using full time Linux. But appearently that is not enough despite our efforts.

Things is , we need another push in some way. Otherwise i'm afraid we will see many more series like that fading away. According to last response of Paradox ( covered here as an article ) they're the possible next publisher can do that.

I don't know also why you are so optimistic. We surely know , at a first glance maybe everyone can say " At least we're getting indies no matter what " but even situation on there is not bright. Because indie games we get are mostly from new people with their first game ever , thanks to Unity and Unreal's Linux support they also give us Linux builds. But most of them don't plan Linux for their next title. ( According to back2gaming interview )

In AAA terms , Feral is the last stronghold. And we're also not getting all games of theirs. Some of them are Mac only.

To sum it up ; until a new push about Linux gaming, that trend seems to be continued.

Sorry, you came here saying "People on Linux don't buy games", we prove you're wrong and now you come with this.

If you're afraid that we're losing momentum, I can tell you that I don't see such thing as I don't see that we're getting less games than previous years. In fact, the good news is that many games have improve a lot their Linux support (at least as a Mesa user I can say that). And no, don't think that the games we get are mostly made by amateurs. So, I would like that you explain me how this isolated cases affects Linux or, way more better, show me that the Linux gaming release trend for this year is lower than previous year.

The only thing we can, and should, be doing is to keep buying as much games we can and give the support and help to any new/old user that gets to our platform. Also, if your points is that we should improve the momentum of Linux desktop adoption (it is not all about games sometimes), then maybe there would be better that you take part on some political movement in your country in order to create antitrust laws that benefit Linux adoption (for instance, make mandatory selling PC/Notebooks without an OS installed and specifying how much the user pays for his Windows OEM license when buying one).


Last edited by x_wing on 6 August 2018 at 5:48 pm UTC
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