Native Linux support

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• 19 Jan, '22
  e-gamer

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  Purists might be upset, but personally I'm perfectly happy with proton, though I would love to see it adopted for official support. Seeing "We currently don't officially support Linux" from admins on other threads is somewhat disappointing, and I can only currently recommend the game with severe caveats to others using linux, given the state of its protondb page. That being said it was working well out of the box for me with proton 6; I just have concerns that it will be broken in a future update and possibly only currently works with a limited range of hardware.

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• 10 Oct, '21
  Eddy Oht

  I would love to see native support for Linux. Can't say how big the playerbase is, but there are quite a few reports over on ProtonDB https://www.protondb.com/app/1062090

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• 09 Nov, '21
  Jaco3011

  Same here.

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• 21 Nov, '21
  Reece

  I love the concept and the mechanics, but i only play native linux games.
  Civ, dont starve, and warthunder are my mainstay, but im sure this could easily join this illustrious group if you cater to your available market.

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• 21 Nov, '21
  Gin Fuyou Admin

  Not to diminish importance of native linux support, especially with Steam Deck coming, but it's just silly to ignore proton.

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• 26 Nov, '21
  Publicly Visible

  I'd rather see it work perfectly for a range of Linux-based distros through Proton than have another broken native Linux game. My experiences with 'major' native Linux games haven't been good, my experiences with Proton generally have.
  
  The advantages of a native Linux version for me are:
  
  1. Hopefully I can get it through gog.com, download the game once then store it on a drive (I have a 'slow' internet connection).
  2. I can save some electricity by not having to run Steam and Proton. Might sound specious but it's important to me. I already save significant amounts of energy when I can game on Manjaro (Xfce) instead of Windows 10.

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• 07 Jan, '22
  Kl_haribo

  I had to install Windows first to install timberwood.
  Windiws is too complicated for me. Wine is ok, but i want to get the updates (over steam)
  On my linuxsystem timberwood performed better than on native Windows btw

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• 07 Jan, '22
  Gin Fuyou Admin

  Kl_haribo, what stops you from getting updates on linux? Steam updates any game just fine even if it's not native.

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• 17 Jan, '22
  ubuntu-user

  first of all, thanks for your work, i too would like a linux version.
  
  ^^

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• 21 Nov, '22
  awsdert

  Does work on Proton so stands to reason it can be ported with only minor issues (if any), I expect the main issues will just be input & possibly sound effects, doubt your using metal or directx & you're probably using glfw so visual stuff would already be sorted, since the mouse etc is supported by glfw input shouldn't be too much of a problem (if at all) so really just minor issues to deal with when porting

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• 21 May, '23
  Nick

  Proton emulation is ok, but it does have several stability issues still, and Native support is always going to be far better. More and more gamers are switching to Linux and having Native support just make sense.
  
  Keep up the great work, love this game!!

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• 21 May, '23
  Gin Fuyou Admin

  > Native support is always going to be far better
  To be honest, that's not correct. A number of times I've switched to Proton from native builds, because they work worse or don't work at all.
  Native is not a magic bullet. But that's not a reason to avoid it as well, at least we should target Steam OS

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• 28 May, '23
  mateusz

  steam is for linux it's a pity that steam games are worse with it

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• 29 Aug, '23
  Bersl

  I view successful native builds for Linux as a litmus test of the quality of the underlying code and the commitment of the developers to making their game accessible to as many people who want to buy and play them as possible. Any game which can't be reasonably abstracted from the OS is built poorly, and any game developer who relies on commercial libraries whose developers won't port their software to Linux has made a poor decision to rely on that component. (This isn't to say that this is the case here, especially given the MacOS port.)
  
  I further view WINE/Proton compatibility as an acceptable stop-gap measure, especially while the development of the actual game is still ongoing, but not as an acceptable end-state. The sentiment of "WINE is good enough" is a real turn-off, especially with respect to indie games. (Again, this isn't to say that this is the case.)
  
  If/when a native port is in the works, I want to know, because you will then have my full support.

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• 29 Jan, '24
  Jayke Bo

  Please, can you do this, I'm sure more people would be willing to buy the game since it will also support steamOS at the same time. Steam offer extensive support on how to port your game.

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• 14 Feb, '24
  Nick

  Another reason for Native Linux support is mod support. currently mods take a a lot of extra effort to get working and it could all be easier with a native version.

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• 14 Feb, '24
  Gin Fuyou Admin

  Not really, mods work pretty easily with proton, you basically just need to substitute one dll which can be done with gui tool.
  That's not clear if Native would make it easier

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• 19 Feb, '24
  Ron

  Please do this! I currently have to run a 2nd laptop with Windows to play. It is the only thing I use that laptop for.

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• 18 Mar, '24
  Rob

  I would like this too - A native build would be nice, but I'd be happy with official support for the Proton runtime. I've seen enough complaints about it on protondb that I'm not willing to risk purchasing an unsupported game for myself & my partner unless there's a steep discount (probably ~10CAD).

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• 18 Mar, '24
  Gin Fuyou Admin

  Rob, what complaints do you mean, protondb lists game as Gold, and I've certainly read more complaints of game not operable on native Windows and Macs builds. At least on Steam you can easily refund if somehow you get unlucky. "Official support" won't make it magically free of any possible issues

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• 06 May, '24
  Enderteck

  Honestly this should be very easy, the game is on Mac so porting can't be hard as Linux and MacOS are similar, especially since unity supports them both well.
  
  Linux has more maker share than MacOS on Steam and ChromeOS just got Steam support, a native Linux release or even official Proton compatibility makes way more sense than supporting MacOS.
  
  If there is linux realease we would have Linux and Proton so no inconvienience for the users if they wanna continue using the Windows version.
  
  Right now there are no guarantees the game will even work on Linux/Steam Deck/ChromeOS which makes buying the game difficult.
  
  I bought the game and I still experience Proton issues to this day, even if I try to install mods.
  
  I don't play the game anymore because crashes and Proton issues are too annoying to deal with and I hope I'll be able to one day.

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• 26 Jun, '24
  Enderteck

  We should get a Linux release, that would bring Wayland support and help with modding.
  
  The game was also released for MacOS even tho less Steam users use it than Linux.
  
  Linux should be the priority over MacOS and the codebase should be compatible if it was already compiled for Windows and MacOS.

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• 30 Jun, '24
  Zack

  I've been playing the stable branch of the game no problem on Linux with Lutris and UMU, but Experimental is broken.
  Can't get it to run at all, crashes with a Unity error on startup.
  
  Arch, KDE Plasma 6, fully updated system. X11.

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• 15 Nov, '24
  Timberbummed

  Windows is getting worse and worse so I finally ditched it for good. Was really bummed that Timberborn isn't officially supported on Linux. I'll try Proton but it would be great to have this ported!

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• 16 Nov, '24
  Gin Fuyou Admin

  Timberbummed, congratulations! Game works well on proton now, there are some potential quirks though, use more recent proton versions and if you encounter stuttering check this: https://timberborn.featureupvote.com/suggestions/591196/bug-report-for-stuttering-on-large-maps-since-the-version-6-update

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• 12 Jan, '25
  Ned

  This would be a fantastic game on Linux. I've already put in over 200 hours building well-hydrated beaver towns. I'd like to repurchase Timberborn on GoG because I bought it on Steam to run with Proton, but since the November Steam client update, games have been stuttering. The trouble is Proton still works better than PlayOnLinux and as long as I have Steam, I'm tethered to that ecosystem. At least if there were a native build I could buy and install it from GoG.

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• 12 Jan, '25
  Gin Fuyou Admin

  Ned, please check if it could be your case: https://timberborn.featureupvote.com/suggestions/591196/stuttering-on-large-maps-since-the-version-6-update-smt-core-count-issue
  Game runs well for me still on Manjaro
  Also trying different proton versions sometimes help. And surely you can run proton without steam, it only streamlines the process.

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• 29 Jan, '25
  Doberman

  This game looks like fun, and I would love to buy it. But I only buy games that officially supports linux natively, so for now I guess I just have to play through my backlog :D
  Hopefully Timberborn will fully support linux natively before I get to the end of my backlog.

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• 03 May, '25
  TheGoogleRider

  Honestly, I totally understand why games don't have native Linux builds; the work required to constantly update builds to ensure compatibility can take a lot of effort.
  
  Although I wish the game would have a Native-Linux build, I would honestly accept a compromise: instead of having full-on Linux support, to having Native-Vulkan/OpenGL support, it would take out the DirectX to Vulkan translation layer needed to run the game through Proton, ensuring more efficient usage of the GPU. It's basically a halfway approach. Though I'm not sure how much of an improvement it will be, and tbh my experiences with playing the game with Proton have been largely fine for the most part.
  
  But yes, if no full-on Linux support could be made, I feel like the Devs should at least give Proton support in consideration in development (don't break Proton support).

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• 13 Aug, '25
  Eleiren

  I'll be honest I'd rather the dev team focus on making the game better, occasionally checking proton hasn't been borked than them wasting time on a native build.
  In my 200 hours, all of which were on Linux systems, i did not have any major issues with the game. i think there may have been a patch where it was broken but overall? Flawless performance, no undue crashes or anything like that.
  
  I also do not understand the opinion of some people on this thread demanding a native build or they won't buy the game. You guys are aware that you are a minority of a minority and unless a dev does the port out of pure passion your few purchases genuinely wont pay back the effort that would take? Not even mentioning updates down the line.
  Sure having a native build would be nice but frankly it should not be a priority anytime soon.

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• 07 Sep, '25
  TwoBeaversAreBetterThanOne

  I've always played on Linux and I started with the version from GoG. All went well until Proton became a hassle to work without without "compat dir" and such.
  
  So, I bought the game a second time on Steam because I really wanted to continue playing (with my custom-build Proton).
  Recently, the maintainer pulled the package from the AUR and now I'm stuck with Proton-GE.
  
  I can still play the game but I'd love to leave Steam and Proton behind. Maybe there's a way to benefit from the presence of motivated, developer-minded players to maintain a build for Linux without disclosing source code and assets?
  
  The amount of time I've put into being able to play the game certainly far exceeds what (I assume) it would take to produce a build for Linux with Unity.

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• 07 Sep, '25
  Gin Fuyou Admin

  @TwoBeaversAreBetterThanOne why do you need custom-build proton? Steam installs own distribution of proton and let's you choose the version.

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• 13 Oct, '25
  Modhunter

  The numbers of Linux players will be going up as Windoze10 ends and they move over to Linux instead of Windoze11.

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• 05 Nov, '25
  FGaming01

  With the steam deck boom and windows 10 being brutally murdered, I think Linux native support is worth it. Wine and proton have bugs, like for example I really struggled uploading custom tail designs, because the Wine file manager didn't work really well. And I believe bugs like these will be way more common in 2026 when PCs that can't run windows 11 switch to Linux.

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• 14 Dec, '25
  Christopher

  Just wanted to say that i been playing on linux for 6 months now, with the latest experimental version, without issues.
  Not a single crash. Just running proton-GE, i didn't even try anything else, it just worked without issues.

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• 09 Jan
  Nokke

  Linux version pls, and push it to GoG store too, i dont play in steam

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• 26 Jan
  BeamMeUpScotty

  I've been using Linux exclusively for many years, as long as a game works fine on Proton (this one does btw), I honestly don't see the need for a native version.
  
  On several occasions the Windows version runs better (on Proton) than the Linux one, mods work exactly the same, and I personally very much prefer having all the game files "contained" in a single WINE prefix instead of having them around the file system (usually player saves), Proton/Windows is better at that too.
  
  For small teams, I see supporting multiple OS as a waste of resources that would be better spent on improving the game itself, let Valve take care of the rest, they've been doing a fantastic job already.
  
  As for GOG, that I fully support, I see the game is there already and I hope they'll keep up with the Steam version.

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• 10 Apr
  Isobel

  I was sad to see that Proton isn't working for me with Timerborn. That might change in the future. I'm keeping the game, because I want to support it and I do hope to play it myself someday.

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