Rocket League has been going through many changes, following the purchase of developer Psyonix by Epic Games. The latest announcement for the game doesn't alter lootboxes or attempt to change storefronts this time, however. Citing "adapting [the game] to use new technologies" and difficulties in supporting multiple platforms on PC, Psyonix has decided to end macOS and Linux support for Rocket League this year. Soon, a patch will go live for the Steam version of the game, disabling online features for the game for those not on Windows. Matchmaking, private matches, tournaments, Rocket Pass, item shop, in-game events. and anything requiring online connections will no longer work, and will be exclusive to the Windows version of Rocket League. Local/offline features will still work as expected, though, with local co-op/versus, car customization, and old Steam workshop maps still being usable. This change is expected to take place in early March.

We want Rocket League to be the best experience possible for all our players. This includes adapting to use new technologies. This has made it more difficult to support macOS and Linux (SteamOS). Because of this, we will have a final patch for these versions in early March.

The macOS and Linux (SteamOS) versions will no longer be updated or supported after the final patch. You will still be able to download and install these versions, but some features will not function as expected.

Source

UPDATE: Psyonix's community manager has released a statement regarding the issue, along with some updates on refunding.

Regarding our decision to end support for macOS and Linux:
Rocket League is an evolving game, and part of that evolution is keeping our game client up to date with modern features. As part of that evolution, we'll be updating our Windows version from 32-bit to 64-bit later this year, as well as updating to DirectX 11 from DirectX 9.
...
Unfortunately, our macOS and Linux native clients depend on our DX9 implementation for their OpenGL renderer to function. When we stop supporting DX9, those clients stop working. To keep these versions functional, we would need to invest significant additional time and resources in a replacement rendering pipeline such as Metal on macOS or Vulkan/OpenGL4 on Linux. We'd also need to invest perpetual support to ensure new content and releases work as intended on those replacement pipelines.

The number of active players on macOS and Linux combined represents less than 0.3% of our active player base. Given that, we cannot justify the additional and ongoing investment in developing native clients for those platforms, especially when viable workarounds exist like Bootcamp or Wine to keep those users playing.

You can read the full statement at the link below.

Update

 

[Silent_Gunner]

C'mon ppl. The Desktop Wars were fought a long time ago and MSFT won easily. There's no reason for a smaller dev to waste what little resources they have making games for people who knowingly use the losing platform(s). This has been true since the early 90s, so there's no need to act surprised nearly 30 years on. And no, 2021 is not going to be the Year of Linux on the Desktop any more than 1997 was.

Rome wasn't built in a day, and it didn't fall in a day, either!

 

[pman152]

C'mon ppl. The Desktop Wars were fought a long time ago and MSFT won easily. There's no reason for a smaller dev to waste what little resources they have making games for people who knowingly use the losing platform(s). This has been true since the early 90s, so there's no need to act surprised nearly 30 years on. And no, 2021 is not going to be the Year of Linux on the Desktop any more than 1997 was.

What the fk are you talking about, Winblows is only winning as its preinstalled on like every laptop so all dem grannys and parents learn it just by having to. If people gave Linux the time of day they would be using it right now.

Open Source Everything > $$$ or Infected Pirate Winblows

 

[Mark McDonut]

Epic is Epic Garbage.

Watching them grow as a company has been like watching someone poop in slow motion over 15 years.

 

[banjo2]

What the fk are you talking about, Winblows is only winning as its preinstalled on like every laptop so all dem grannys and parents learn it just by having to. If people gave Linux the time of day they would be using it right now.

Open Source Everything > $$$ or Infected Pirate Winblows

I've used Linux a bit, didn't quite get the appeal... Not really a fan of Windows 10 either, though.

 

[Deleted User]

I get that the whole "Epic bad" circlejerk is getting tiresome for some people, but holy shit that's just an awful move on their part. Alienating a decent bit of their fanbase who most likely purchased in-game content only to get utterly shafted by the devs.

 

[IncredulousP]

I switched to rocket league on linux because it played buttery smooth, unlike on Windows where it was massively stuttering for me. Good thing I don't really play it anymore, knew things would go downhill after it was sold to Epic.

 

[gnmmarechal]

Well, this was something I expected, but... it doesn't make me any happier to see it.

 

[PrincessLillie]

They already tried (and failed) to do that...

https://gbatemp.net/threads/update-...vious-statement-on-steam-availability.537559/

But only because fans lost their minds did it remain.

Oh look, someone missed the joke.

Linux and Mac OS are irrelevant anyway.

Mac OS, yes. Linux, not so much. Linux may have been irrelevant at some point, but that's not the case anymore.

 

[JFizDaWiz]

the userbase on those systems must have been low, and if that's the case then I understand dropping support for OS that isn't brining in enough money to warrant supporting it.

 

[Kioku]

What the fk are you talking about, Winblows is only winning as its preinstalled on like every laptop so all dem grannys and parents learn it just by having to. If people gave Linux the time of day they would be using it right now.

Open Source Everything > $$$ or Infected Pirate Winblows

Linux isn't the end all OS some of you preach it to be. Just Uninstalled Manjaro after a BIOS update broke GRUB because I was too lazy to fix it. It's a good series of OSes if you're wanting to be in control. However, gaming on it is a chore (even with Proton and Lutris) and productivity is hit or miss depending on what you need. Saw WINE got a huge update, though. Still.. It's a niche ecosystem that honestly needs work.

Hell, streaming from OBS was an awful experience. Coupled with the other quirks I experienced? I'd be hard pressed to suggest any flavor of Linux to gamers

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

the userbase on those systems must have been low, and if that's the case then I understand dropping support for OS that isn't brining in enough money to warrant supporting it.

Iirc, Linux users were in the low single digit percentage of users on Steam.

 

[Deleted User]

Honestly with how unstable Windows 10 is I wish for an alternative after 20+ years of using Windows since the late 90s.

Unfortunately just about everything I do on a PC requires Windows.

I'd like to see a company make an OS with all of the apps and features I currently use on Windows, minus Windows 10 bugs and make a big push for it as a gaming platform. Maybe they could make consoles with a locked down version of the OS (which can also be unlocked by the user) to attract gamers and developers. Something I really wish Windows could do is natively support using a controller to navigate the OS for the custom game console HTPC I've been building.

I think there is a gap on the market for a fully featured and user friendly Windows killer that's versatile toward workstation setups, PC gaming setups and console gaming/HTPC setups in a single kernel. Maybe a new startup could achieve something like this with a custom Linux based OS?

 

[Meepers55]

If the game wasn't doing well enough on those platforms to warrant continued support, then I don't see much of an issue with this decision. It's clear they want to keep developing new content for the game, but doing so while also upkeeping each version is getting to be too costly.

The backlash definitely wouldn't have been as bad if they just outright said this instead of releasing a poorly worded statement that could be easily misinterpreted. It's not like this is something new to the industry; there's no need for lousy excuses.

 

[Godofcheese]

Being bought by Epic wasn't enough?
This is a punch in the gut.

Epic also recently gave money to Lutris.
So this move is beyond comprehension.
Or do they think it's good enough with Lutris and not native support?

 

[Xzi]

the userbase on those systems must have been low, and if that's the case then I understand dropping support for OS that isn't brining in enough money to warrant supporting it.

The PC user base in general dropped off hard after Psyonix was bought by Epic, even more when they increased prices of all the MTX. Any move which turns away any percentage of customers at this point is a bad move, but then again, that's under the assumption that Epic actually cares about sustaining this game for the long term, and they probably don't.

 

[campbell0505]

This has got me thinking, if rocket league is still big in 5 - 10 years (that’s if epic doesn’t stuff it up) do you think they’d eventually end support for the Switch/Xbox one/PS4 versions? It’s going to happen at some stage, but when? With Mac it’s more simple to transfer your progress over as I believe your progress is cloud saved by steam on rocket league (not sure, don’t play rl on pc) but with consoles, you can’t transfer to a different platform (etc switch to Xbox), would they open a window of time where you can transfer somehow, or do you think their progress will just be stopped in their tracks and they’ll have to start over on a new platform in order to continue playing online.

 

[Anxiety_timmy]

I guess im the only sh#t head that uses mac huh?

 

[pman152]

Linux isn't the end all OS some of you preach it to be. Just Uninstalled Manjaro after a BIOS update broke GRUB because I was too lazy to fix it. It's a good series of OSes if you're wanting to be in control. However, gaming on it is a chore (even with Proton and Lutris) and productivity is hit or miss depending on what you need. Saw WINE got a huge update, though. Still.. It's a niche ecosystem that honestly needs work.

Hell, streaming from OBS was an awful experience. Coupled with the other quirks I experienced? I'd be hard pressed to suggest any flavor of Linux to gamers

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------


Iirc, Linux users were in the low single digit percentage of users on Steam.

Sounds like your just having Linux-noob problems.
I have Lutris, Battle.net, Steam, OBS, everything working perfectly.

 

[Meepers55]

Sounds like your just having Linux-noob problems.
I have Lutris, Battle.net, Steam, OBS, everything working perfectly.

This statement is just so dismissive.

"Everything works fine for me so anyone who has issues or critiques is just a noob." Flawless logic right here. You sound no different than the people who use Windows.

 

[DJPlace]

wrong way to word things rocket league peeps.

 

[Kioku]

This statement is just so dismissive.

"Everything works fine for me so anyone who has issues or critiques is just a noob." Flawless logic right here. You sound no different than the people who use Windows.

It's also partly why I won't go back. There's an obscene elitism among a pretty good chunk of the Linux community. Especially when it comes down to "how it works". This isn't the first time I've gotten some backlash for sharing my experience with Linux and how it just didn't work out. Probably won't be the last, either.

There's a lot to learn when switching to Linux. It's not as plug n' play as someone like Pragma wants you to believe. Whether it's the obsessively overbearing command line. Or how the package manager works within your flavor of Linux. It's not perfect. It can work for you if it's what you need. For the average user? Not so much.