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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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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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226 comments
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pete910 Jan 24, 2020
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Just requested refunds on all gift purchases too.

£134 worth + £15 for my original

Guess Linux don't pay
gojul Jan 24, 2020
Got refunded by Steam, but oddly not for the DLCs, just the original game.
erlog Jan 24, 2020
Quoting: gojulGot refunded by Steam, but oddly not for the DLCs, just the original game.

How did you do it?
I am still trying...
qptain Nemo Jan 24, 2020
Quoting: Guest...not to mention the item store purchases (which I know are impossible to refund)
Are they impossible to refund?
Phlebiac Jan 24, 2020
Quoting: Liam Dawe
QuotemacOS 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.

Yep, they closed out my refund request with a "here's the help link for Steam." Doesn't do me any good when I bought the Steam key on a third-party store (probably Humble or Bundle Stars, but I don't remember any more?).
Cheeseness Jan 24, 2020
Quoting: Phlebiac
Quoting: Liam Dawe
QuotemacOS 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.

Yep, they closed out my refund request with a "here's the help link for Steam." Doesn't do me any good when I bought the Steam key on a third-party store (probably Humble or Bundle Stars, but I don't remember any more?).
Steam payout frequency varies from game to game, but it's pretty safe to say that after a couple of weeks, Psyonix will have pulled their revenue out of Steam, so it doesn't really make sense for Valve to be footing the bill for unhappy/abandoned customers there (unless that was part of their involvement in the game being ported to begin with, I guess).
Liam Dawe Jan 24, 2020
Article updated. See the bottom about refunds and why.
leillo1975 Jan 25, 2020
Thanks a lot for the last update
ObsidianBlk Jan 25, 2020
I look forward to that point in time where laws catch up to this practice and deem such things illegal. Once "released", honestly, I do not feel software should be "patched" beyond stability and security, otherwise, I feel, companies can (and do) break their own promises.

If the package says "Windows", "Mac", "Linux", then you take two of three of those away, then you now have effectively created misleading advertising based on material available at the point of purchase. As far as I have ever seen, there has never been (in "released" software) any warning about "Platform availability subject to change"

I mean, honestly, when we used to buy software, there was never... NEVER any risk that it would suddenly stop working on the systems it was written to work for. Now these games can just be snatched away from us on the whim of the company that makes it... effectively stealing our products from us. Refunds are NOT OK as an answer to this. What if someone doesn't WANT a refund? They just want to play the damn game they bought (and for many, bought YEARS ago).
Adam_eM Jan 25, 2020
It might sound stupid, but I'm against the refundal haze... In my opinion, it only teaches them (and not only them), simply to pee on us.. "Let's make a linux version, the community would grab it gladly, so we could make some extra money, and then we'll tell them we're dropping support, just before they can even realise we're doing so". It applies to so many titles...

Didn't mean to be rude, but... Epic, please, suck my... rocket :). Do it epic!


Last edited by Adam_eM on 25 January 2020 at 12:40 am UTC
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