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I’ve been wondering recently about what happened to Minecraft: Story Mode for Linux. A developer at Telltale Games even publicly spoke about his support for it and offered out a Beta to multiple people willing to test.

I was accepted to test, the game ran smoothly, everything looked good and then...nothing happened. No one spoke of it again, Telltale themselves went silent on it and it looked as good as dead. It was odd, because the Linux version seemed ready.

Turns out, it was ready.

I caught up with David Brady, the developer who worked on it, who has since left Telltale Games to work for another big developer. In his own words he said “it was my opinion that Minecraft was ready for release”. He seemed very certain of this too when we had a chat. That was the main bit I'm able to share, but he was very clear on it.

I should note those are the thoughts of that developer, not of Telltale Games as it stands right now.

I reached out to Telltale Games through the usual channels, but sadly I received no reply. We may never know what really happened. I doubt Microsoft would have suddenly requested the plug be pulled on it (they now own Mojang), since this was all happening after Microsoft’s purchase of the original Minecraft developer.

We can speculate, of course, as to what actually happened. It could have been the usual low market share issue that the “higher ups” didn’t like the idea of, which would have been strange since the work was already done and obviously approved of in some way.

It could have been a case of having no one left to maintain it and support it going forward, which seems quite believable. All extra platforms come with a support cost, but since Telltale don’t speak about it, we just don’t know.

If you ever read this Telltale Games, get in touch, let’s have a chat.

A shame, it would have been really nice to see a Telltale title on Linux. I’ve always been itching to try their titles.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Editorial
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33 comments
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fagnerln Sep 4, 2017
Quoting: Corben
Quoting: jkaartMinecraft Story Mode Season 2 don't launch in wine.
Maybe Season 1 works well today, I don't test it yet in wine.
Ah okay, didn't test Minecraft Storymode, but e.g. The Walking Dead works perfectly with wine (platinum rating).

TWD Season 3 doesn't launch too...
Sir_Diealot Sep 5, 2017
It seems telltale just buy the rights to big IPs and create very boring games around that. I've watched someone play their version "Game of Thrones". It was incredibly hard to stay awake. I'm not looking forward to their games. There seem to be way better narratively driven games around. I heard "Life is Strange" is pretty good, and there are certainly others as well.
Pompesdesky Sep 5, 2017
Quoting: M@GOidOn a rival? They are known to stuck a knife on their own clients. Ask Windows 7 users what they think about MS actions about Windows 10 down the throat upgrades.

They are even known for sticking knives in their partners..... See them becoming hardware vendors (Surface, Surface Book, etc.) when they are selling their software to companies like HP, Lenovo and the others....
micha Sep 5, 2017
Quoting: razing32
Quoting: lucifertdarkTelltale were more than likely ordered to kill all Linux development or lose their spot in the Windows App Store. Microsoft have always been shady b'stards.

Given M$ attitude to open source I would not be surprised at all.

Seriously? I recently read that Microsoft has more on github than any other company..
( http://www.businessinsider.de/microsoft-github-open-source-2016-9 )
Liam Dawe Sep 5, 2017
Quoting: micha
Quoting: razing32
Quoting: lucifertdarkTelltale were more than likely ordered to kill all Linux development or lose their spot in the Windows App Store. Microsoft have always been shady b'stards.

Given M$ attitude to open source I would not be surprised at all.

Seriously? I recently read that Microsoft has more on github than any other company..
( http://www.businessinsider.de/microsoft-github-open-source-2016-9 )
That talks about contributor count, not how much they have on github.
tuubi Sep 5, 2017
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Quoting: Asuid has no game on linux which is a really big shame.
Really? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Id_Software#Linux_gaming

Ah, good old times...
micha Sep 5, 2017
Quoting: liamdawe
Quoting: micha
Quoting: razing32
Quoting: lucifertdarkTelltale were more than likely ordered to kill all Linux development or lose their spot in the Windows App Store. Microsoft have always been shady b'stards.

Given M$ attitude to open source I would not be surprised at all.

Seriously? I recently read that Microsoft has more on github than any other company..
( http://www.businessinsider.de/microsoft-github-open-source-2016-9 )
That talks about contributor count, not how much they have on github.

Which might actually be the more important metric. Also 1366 repositories is also not a small number ( https://github.com/Microsoft ).

Don't get me wrong. I think it's mainly out of necessity not because the truly believe in it. However, their contributions are quite huge and most stuff is now even available in Linux (e.g. .NET core and VS code). So saying that they have a bad attitude towards open source isn't true at all anymore.
Liam Dawe Sep 5, 2017
Quoting: michaWhich might actually be the more important metric. Also 1366 repositories is also not a small number ( https://github.com/Microsoft ).

Don't get me wrong. I think it's mainly out of necessity not because the truly believe in it. However, their contributions are quite huge and most stuff is now even available in Linux (e.g. .NET core and VS code). So saying that they have a bad attitude towards open source isn't true at all anymore.
Yeah they do have a lot now, I quite liked VS Code as well, a good alternative to Atom.
t3g Sep 5, 2017
Valve keeps hurting the perception of Linux gaming every month with those stupid and rare hardware surveys instead of login and playtime stats. Oh and they are optional so that removes more "users" of the OS.

It sucks because the "media" and developers/publishers view it as truth when in reality people like myself login to Steam daily and haven't gotten a survey in 6+ months.
Dunc Sep 5, 2017
Quoting: Sir_DiealotIt seems telltale just buy the rights to big IPs and create very boring games around that. I've watched someone play their version "Game of Thrones". It was incredibly hard to stay awake.
The only two I've played are the first episode of Tales from the Borderlands, which I quite enjoyed, and The Walking Dead, which I have in its entirety on the XBox 360 (thanks to Games With Gold, as far as I recall). I played through most of the first episode and got bored with it.

So it depends on the game. And, although I can give more traditional games a chance regardless of the theme - I'm not into the whole faux-medieval, cod-Tolkein thing at all, but thorougly enjoy the Elder Scrolls series, for example - I think, given Telltale's heavy narrative bias, it strongly depends on the story/franchise too. If that isn't engaging, there isn't a whole lot of gameplay to prop it up and keep you interested. They stand or fall on the plot, writing, and acting. Now I know TWD is a hugely popular series, but it's not something I've ever felt the urge to watch, while, although I realise it's hardly Great Art, I already know and like the Borderlands universe.
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