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Sad news today Linux gamers, Psyonix emailed us directly to make sure we saw the news that they're officially ending support of Rocket League on Linux and macOS.

Their published statement on this was quite short and didn't really explain much:

As we continue to upgrade Rocket League with new technologies, it is no longer viable for us to maintain support for the macOS and Linux (SteamOS) platforms. As a result, the final patch for the macOS and Linux versions of the game will be in March. This update will disable online functionality (such as in-game purchases) for players on macOS and Linux, but offline features including Local Matches, and splitscreen play will still be accessible.

If you purchased Rocket League for Mac or Linux on Steam, the game will still work with full functionality when installed and played on a computer running Windows 7 or newer.

So the Linux and macOS versions will still be there, but left old and online play will be disabled. Not good. Not good at all and as a huge Rocket League fan I'm not pleased—annoyed you might say.

This "new technologies" bit was interesting, perhaps they've decided to go DirectX 12 with an Unreal Engine upgrade? At this point we can only speculate with so little information. In the expanded support page, for Linux they mentioned playing Rocket League with Steam Play Proton is possible although they will not be supporting it.

When Psyonix became part of Epic Games back in May last year, many speculated that Rocket League would not only drop Linux support but also leave Steam. I didn't think either would happen but here we are, Psyonix has still never said they will continue to sell the game on Steam only that it would see "continued support". Originally, I thought meant it would go free to play, but with this move it seems a little more likely it will move over to the Epic Store which doesn't support Linux.


Update: Psyonix are now suggesting to request a refund from them on their support portal.

Update 2 - 24/01: Psyonix are now telling us "macOS and Linux players can reach out directly to Steam to request refunds and they will be honored. In these cases, Steam will make an exception to their 2 hours limit rule.". Their own support ticket team are now also saying to ask Steam for the refund, although Valve has denied my own refund twice.

In situations like this, Valve ideally need a better support system in place or at least an option of platform removal to get around the usual way. As we end up going in circles.

Update 3: After making their PR team aware what was going on with the refund situation, they've now released a statement on Reddit. Refunds will be accepted on Steam now, plus they gave the reason behind removing Linux and macOS support.

It's what I suspected as written above, they're upgrading to a higher version of Direct X which is a problem as the "macOS and Linux native clients depend on our DX9 implementation for their OpenGL renderer to function" and they're not willing to put resources into Vulkan/Metal for Linux/macOS when the combined player-base was apparently "0.3%" of the active total and when "viable workarounds exist" with Wine being mentioned.


They could have gone for Vulkan though to get Windows + Linux (and Stadia) and possibly even macOS with MoltenVK. It's a shame another company decided to stick with a proprietary API. That said, it may not have been possible if they're on quite an old version of Unreal Engine.

If you do get a refund for it, be sure you use that Steam Wallet funding for a developer that does support Linux. Make it count.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Schattenspiegel Jan 24, 2020
Quoting: Tuxee
Quoting: Glog78In my humble oppinion game companies should be able to get sued in europe since their idea of giving you only a revocable licence doesn't hold up. And if this one doesn't hold up the 24 month waranty rule should apply. Btw. in my oppinion this should hold up for any game which did sell a fully functional linux port and removed their support without removing sales 24 month before they end support.

No you don't want that. Really. That would just lead to even less Linux ports. Particularly indie companies would avoid our platform.

That would only be a problem for games-as-a-service, though and they should factor continued support of all supportrd platforms into their calculation anyway.
mborse Jan 24, 2020
Anyone managed to get a refund? Their support sent me to Steam, Steam denied, went back to support, now back to Steam. Any clues?
Morguldir Jan 24, 2020
Pretty worrying that they are sending people to steam, because you can’t even apply for refunds for microtransactions there.
Mountain Man Jan 24, 2020
I wonder if those of us who got the game for free with the Steam Controller can get "refunds"? Would be a nice way to really jam it to the developers for screwing over Linux customers.
namiko Jan 24, 2020
My partner did not get a refund through Steam (definitely too many hours). Not sure if he should even try through Psyonix at all at this rate.

Basically, a false wall of "tech support" disguised as doing nothing is just about as good as stonewalling displeased customers with zero support at all: just set up a few email addresses and automatically send incoming mail to /dev/null. (Yes, that's unfair and hopefully unlikely, but I want some time to be unreasonably pissed at Psyonix for now.)
mborse Jan 24, 2020
After referring to the thread on reddit, initiatied by psyonix, being sent to Steam again, Steam again denied the refund.
So no, it seems refund requests will not be honoured, no matter what is being published on social media by psyonix, see https://www.reddit.com/r/RocketLeague/comments/eswu1s/rocket_league_ending_support_for_mac_and_linux/ffd835b/?context=1000
KuJo Jan 24, 2020
It is the same with me, too. I first requested a refund with the notice that the Linux support will be removed. Was rejected!

Then I made a new request including a link to the statement from Psyonix that Steam will approve the requests. And was rejected again!

Really annoying ... not only that you are angry about the end of Linux support. Now you can also be annoyed about a lousy support when you try to get a refund.
Salvatos Jan 24, 2020
Quoting: Pikolo
Quoting: razing32This feels like a canary in the coal mine in some way.
All of the warnings about centralized servers , no LAN or private servers , etc.
Seems this can hit any game any time
And for the people mentioning Tencent , they are still spreading their web of "transactions" and "aquisitions"

I miss the old days.
Game was released (maybe had a patch later), focus was single player , you had LAN and could play with private servers.
Now games are online , focus is multiplayer and publishers decide how the game is played and it is on their whim what will happen next.

I think the last patch added Steam Remote Play together support, so you will still be able to play with friends against bots. Not as fun as online multiplayer, but something. In March RL on Linux will end up in the same situation as on PS4 - you only have local single and multiplayer. On PS4 you'd have to pay for a PS subscription to play multiplayer, but I don't see people doing that.
Must be plenty of people doing it because I encounter nearly as many people from PSN in my online matches as from PC.

And I wouldn't really count on Remote Play Together for something as fast and precise as Rocket League. Just trying it with Ultimate Chicken Horse, the guest players were at a very obvious disadvantage.
Schattenspiegel Jan 24, 2020
What I find even more concerning is that they are still selling the game with Linux and Mac support with no mention that the support will end on Steam (unless you you are lucky enough to see the small news section entry that will be buried before long)
Whitewolfe80 Jan 24, 2020
Damn it hate when am right I said they would do this and everybody said no they wouldnt Epic pulled the money plug for mac and linux they can dress it up and say its a features thing but no no its not.
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