Rust Developer Has 'no Plans' For Linux Or Proton Support, Says...

Rust has a long, rocky will-they-or-won't-they history when it comes to official support for both Proton and Linux, and with a new Steam Machine on the way it's no surprise to see those conversations popping up again. Valve's cute little cube will run SteamOS and use Proton—a compatibility layer to make Windows games play nice with Linux—but you can't play official Rust using it.

The latest plea for official Proton support started on Reddit, where Scout339v2 shared their screenshot of Rust running "on a server with EAC disabled to show that the game already works perfectly on Linux." Disabling Easy Anti-Cheat (EAC) is the key factor here, and part of a broader conversation where Facepunch and its Linux/Proton userbase don't see eye-to-eye.

While it's true Rust runs on Proton, you can't join official servers, and most unofficial servers, with EAC disabled. Facepunch considered changing its stance in 2022 when the Steam Deck launched, but didn't end up introducing official Proton support. COO Alistair McFarlane said at the time that Linux is "safer for cheat developers," and that trying to support EAC on another platform could reduce the team's ability to support Windows.

Nothing has changed since, and McFarlane reiterated the studio's previous stance in the thread.

"There are no plans to support Proton or Linux," said McFarlane. "It's a vector for cheat developers, and one that would be poorly maintained by both us and EAC due to the low user base. When we stopped support for Linux, we saw more cheat users exploiting Linux, than actual legitimate users."

As McFarlane indicates in that response, Rust did once have official Linux support, but Facepunch discontinued it in 2019 for the same reasons it's chosen not to pursue it again, citing the challenge of supporting another OS and the cheating problem. A follow-up blog addressed community requests for Proton support as a solution, and while Facepunch owner Garry Newman stated they were "not opposed to it," there were still no plans to support Proton in an official capacity.

"From that experience, I'm very comfortable saying that if a game supports Proton or Linux, they're not serious about anti-cheat," McFarlane wrote in the Reddit thread. "The only exception would be if they have a fully mature, dedicated in-house anti-cheat team, even then, I'm not seeing anyone handle Proton and Linux well."

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Source: PC Gamer