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We Happy Few for Linux and Mac being refunded, to get an "unofficial" beta

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After a long road, the waiting on We Happy Few for both Linux and Mac is about to come to an end. Not the happiest of endings either.

Originally funded on Kickstarter back in 2015 for $334,754 CA, Linux and Mac support was then announced for We Happy Few after the campaign had started. In 2017, it was announced that Compulsion Games teamed up with Gearbox Publishing to complete it.

Later in 2017 Compulsion Games announced work had begun on the ports, the whole game then had a delay and then Compulsion Games joined Microsoft in June of 2018 although they did confirmed then a Linux version was still happening.

Yesterday, they finally gave an update on what's been happening. The post on Kickstarter mentions that they "haven't reached a quality level that we are comfortable with" and they will not be selling or advertising a Linux or Mac version. However, they will offer a full refund to Linux/Mac backers and give out an unofficial Beta version as you will get to keep your copy even with the refund. They also said it will likely run slower than the Windows version, although on Linux it was said that Proton/Steam Play might be faster.

This Beta version for Linux was due with the 1.9 update released yesterday, although going by SteamDB it's not clear if that's actually happened yet and they've not said anything on it being released just yet.

After waiting so long, this is a real shame but they've handled this in a vastly better way than most other developers when they've been unable to do what they promised.

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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Corben Nov 12, 2019
Well, as Compulsion Games was acquired by Microsoft Games Studios, it's a surprise they still worked on this. Of course it's pretty sad they didn't fully deliver their promise, which again destroys a bit of the trust in crowdfunding campaigns... but having a native Linux beta, though unofficial, is better than nothing.
Okay, if it works better with Steam Play/Proton then I'd personally be fine with it... as long as I can play it, but it makes the work and effort put into the native version more or less useless... blessing or curse.

I'm wondering though, was the rating of the game not that great in the beginning? But with overall rating mostly positive and even recent reviews even very positive I might give it a shot.


Last edited by Corben on 12 November 2019 at 9:49 am UTC
rustybroomhandle Nov 12, 2019
They could just switch to a "Proton, but supported by us" type model, like with No Man's Sky. As in not a native port, but the devs still care to make sure it works.
Botonoski Nov 12, 2019
I feel that Microsoft itself is growing closer and closer to straight up gutting Windows 10 and replacing the internals with some kinda Linux-Windows backward-compatible hybrid monstrosity, though that may just be my imagination/bizarre-fantasy. If that were to happen I gotta wonder how long, if ever, would it take for devs to move away from the compatibility layer and go full native.


Last edited by Botonoski on 12 November 2019 at 12:59 pm UTC
dpanter Nov 12, 2019
Both yay and nay... really wanted this game to turn out well.

I suppose it has improved a lot since the August 2018 release, but it seems to remain slow, buggy and boring still. Also rocking a fat 60€ pricetag for the base game, or 92€ if you want the DLC's. Yeah, that's correct. Plural.
This isn't the era of 'fix the game first'... :(
TheSHEEEP Nov 12, 2019
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Ugh... I guess they tried, at least?
Ehvis Nov 12, 2019
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I suspect the "quality" is about something more than just performance. Because UE4 running slower on Mac and Linux is not exactly a surprise.
Zlopez Nov 12, 2019
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Quoting: BotonoskiI feel that Microsoft itself is growing closer and closer to straight up gutting Windows 10 and replacing the internals with some kinda Linux-Windows backward-compatible hybrid monstrosity, though that may just be my imagination/bizare-fantasy. If that were to happen I gotta wonder how long, if ever, would it take for devs to move away from the compatibility layer and go full native.

They started by creating a IoT OS that is using Linux kernel, so it's not a fantasy anymore.


Last edited by Zlopez on 12 November 2019 at 11:10 am UTC
FredO Nov 12, 2019
We are not the happy few...
Beamboom Nov 12, 2019
Luckily the game turned out to be pretty crappy anyways, so it's not a big loss. For a long time I was hoping for a Bioshock experience.
BielFPs Nov 12, 2019
Quoting: BeamboomI was hoping for a Bioshock experience.

I think we all hoped for. Bioshock series really neat the whole "dystopian society" theme.
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