Psyonix will drop support for Rocket League in macOS and Linux come March

[Polycount]

In context: Most multi-platform games expand their reach to as many platforms as possible over time. For example, after four years on the market, The Witcher 3 received a Switch port just a few months ago, and many former PlayStation 4 exclusives are finally making their way to PC. However, it seems Rocket League developer Psyonix aims to take a slightly different approach with its popular pseudo-sports game.

On the official Rocket League website, Psyonix revealed that it will be ending support for the game's Mac and Linux versions in March. Psyonix says it's making this decision to ensure Rocket League players have the "best experience possible." The move will also somehow make it easier for Psyonix to "[adapt] to use new technologies."

It's unclear how ending support for two prominent operating systems will help Psyonix (and its new owner, Epic Games) achieve either of those goals; particularly the former. If anything, ceasing support for macOS and Linux will lead to a lesser experience for each platform's respective players, not a better one.

As for the bit about "adapting" to new tech -- we have absolutely no idea what Psyonix is talking about there. If our readers know of any Rocket League-related technologies that work on Windows but not on macOS or Linux, please let us know in the comments. In the meantime, we'll be reaching out to the developer for clarification on this statement.

Regardless, it's unlikely that anyone or anything will change Psyonix or Epic's mind at this point. As such, if you'll be affected by this change, we recommend getting in as much Rocket League playtime as you can over the next couple of months.

To be clear, you'll still be able to access the game on macOS and Linux when the "final" patch drops in March, but "some features" may stop functioning. We assume online play will be one of them, as it relies on constant updates and bug fixes to work properly. However, offline play should still be possible, and your cosmetics won't be going anywhere.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/83690-psyonix-drop-support-rocket-league-macos-linux-versions.html

 

[yRaz]

Well, getting games to work on Linux through steam is really easy so we'll essentially be playing the windows version on wine. Steam uses cloud sourcing to automate configuring wine for games.

 

[Lew Zealand]

Wow, that's coming from Epic front and center. How many games at the Epic Store support Macs? I started playing RL on a Mac and alongside Minecraft, those 2 got me back into gaming. Of course any sensible person gets a PC for gaming and being on rare occasion sensible, I did just that. But that would never have happened without a Mac client, though I assume that's rare enough occurrence for Epic to throw the Mac and Linux towel in.

 

[Plutoisaplanet]

Isn't it pretty obvious? Psyonix has a majority of its users on Playstation, Xbox, Switch, and PC, and supporting MacOS and Linux takes extra effort (since their development team's time is a limited resource). It sucks for people using those platforms, but it benefits the majority of people playing Rocket League because new features can come out faster (theoretically). At least they'll still be able to play Rocket League on a Windows device without paying for the game again (unlike console users looking to play on another platform).

 

[bviktor]

Well, getting games to work on Linux through steam is really easy so we'll essentially be playing the windows version on wine. Steam uses cloud sourcing to automate configuring wine for games.

Getting them to run is easy, getting them to run well is another story.

 

[loading88]

Well, getting games to work on Linux through steam is really easy so we'll essentially be playing the windows version on wine. Steam uses cloud sourcing to automate configuring wine for games.

Fairly certain Rocket League won't be sold on Steam anymore at some point so that may be harder to pull off unless you already own it.

Honestly their biggest issue is the **** servers that they run. It's been the biggest complaint since the beginning. The competitive scene and the next to no support from Psyonix is a whole other can of worms.

 

[Skjorn]

Rocket League Chapter 2? Update to UE4?

 

[hahahanoobs]

Isn't it pretty obvious? Psyonix has a majority of its users on Playstation, Xbox, Switch, and PC, and supporting MacOS and Linux takes extra effort (since their development team's time is a limited resource). It sucks for people using those platforms, but it benefits the majority of people playing Rocket League because new features can come out faster (theoretically). At least they'll still be able to play Rocket League on a Windows device without paying for the game again (unlike console users looking to play on another platform).

Agreed.

Prominent platforms with player counts missing. Interesting.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Psyonix getting bought out wont affect support they said....Epic is great they said....

Meanwhile some of us were calling it out as soon as epic sealed the deal, epic doesnt care about alternative platforms, only the ones with fat margins.

 

[Evernessince]

Reminds me of when EPIC abandoned PC to make gears console exclusive. If one thing's for sure, except EPIC to follow the money.

 

[OortCloud]

If ever there was an indictment of the state of Linux as casual home-use platform this is it. No matter how much noise the Linux community make to the contrary it continues to scrape along the bottom as a home platform. Shame as some serious competition to Windows in this arena would be healthy.