Confused on Steam Play and Proton? Be sure to check out our guide.
We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.

News I'm not quite surprised by. Stoic have now officially removed the Linux version of The Banner Saga on Steam in favour of leveraging Valve's Steam Play.

Why am I not surprised? Well, they already removed actual support for the original The Banner Saga and so we weren't going to be getting an further updates and the sequels were not coming to Linux. So, with that in mind, this news isn't really coming out of the blue. The problem is, they used an external porter for the original who went out of business and on top of that they also use Adobe AIR which was discontinued for Linux back in 2011.

They've actually done this as a result of user requests to have the native Linux version removed, since Steam has no built-in function to let you switch between a native game and the Windows version run through Steam Play. Hopefully Valve will add in such an option in future, so people can have the best of both worlds and make their choice themselves. Until Valve do that, I imagine a couple more will be doing the same who don't have the resources or simply can't update the Linux version, as sad as that is.

After a few issues of it still downloading the soundtrack and some other misc files as if it still had a Linux build, I told them what else they needed to remove and so now it will actually do Steam Play properly.

I've tested it myself and even on my reasonably low powered Intel laptop using the Mesa driver on Ubuntu 18.10 it works perfectly. No audio issues, no graphical issues and performance seems okay too.

Is it a big loss? Not really. If they weren't doing anything with the old Linux build and for some it didn't run at all, this is a better option isn't it? I would say so. Obviously it's preferable to have a supported release, but if they can't or won't this is the only option and Steam Play is absolutely better than having to run Steam in Wine directly. So while the reasons for them doing this are nothing to do with Steam Play, it's good that it's around so we don't lose it completely.

See more here.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Steam Play, Steam
18 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.
26 comments
Page: «3/3
  Go to:

HadBabits Nov 16, 2018
If it runs at all with Proton it'll be a %100 improvement for me :B
lucinos Nov 17, 2018
until steam gives an option, I think there is a simple solution. Just leave the linux in an open beta? This way proton would be the default and maybe not in this case but in others it can be useful to have access on the linux version.
rea987 Nov 19, 2018
It's alright, let me remove it from my wishlist.
ReverendJ1 Nov 19, 2018
Quoting: mylkadying light (dead island doesnt have support for any linux newer than ubuntu 15.05. im kinda pissed about that, because it doenst work with 16 and above for me)

I swear I played Dead Island on 16.04, but I guess I can't say for sure. I just deleted it and installed the Definitive Edition though (which works like a charm, since it uses Dying Light's engine), since my friend just bought it and wanted to play through it with me. It'll probably be down to $5 again on the next sale.
mylka Nov 20, 2018
Quoting: ReverendJ1
Quoting: mylkadying light (dead island doesnt have support for any linux newer than ubuntu 15.05. im kinda pissed about that, because it doenst work with 16 and above for me)

I swear I played Dead Island on 16.04, but I guess I can't say for sure. I just deleted it and installed the Definitive Edition though (which works like a charm, since it uses Dying Light's engine), since my friend just bought it and wanted to play through it with me. It'll probably be down to $5 again on the next sale.

yes, it worked for me too with 16. but now i have 18 and it doesnt work anymore. i wrote an email to the developers, but they say, that they dont support 18
the Definitive Edition came out 2016 and they dont support it anymore, thats kinda lame. so i am waiting for vavle to let me install the windows version with proton
nitroflow Nov 20, 2018
Quoting: rea987It's alright, let me remove it from my wishlist.

But if it works with proton, why now? It's not like you could have played the sequels natively too before. So instead of sticking with only the first as native port might as well commit to go full proton for the series.
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.