Facepunch Abandoned Linux. So I Stopped Supporting Facepunch.

I play Rust. Or I did.

Then Facepunch decided Linux users were the problem. I decided Facepunch was the problem. We went our separate ways.

Here's what actually happened — and why their own numbers make them look worse every year they hold the line.

2019: The Kill Shot

Facepunch dropped the Rust Linux client in August 2019. The official reason: Unity doesn't support IL2CPP builds on Linux. Anti-cheat concerns. Too much effort for too few users.

The real reason, buried in paragraph three of their own blog post:

They didn't test it. They shipped it anyway for years. Then they killed it and called it a principled decision.

At the time of the kill, Linux was roughly 1% of Steam users. They measured Linux adoption after removing the client, then cited the number as justification. The community noticed immediately.

The Technical Reality They Glossed Over

The Linux build was broken not because Linux is hard — but because Facepunch forgot to compile in the Vulkan shaders. The binary didn't launch. For months. Nobody at the studio noticed because nobody booted it up.

2021–2022: The Promise and the Shrug

Steam Deck launches. Community asks again. Garry Newman tells The Verge Proton support is coming — "hopefully by the time the Deck comes out, if not it'll be really soon after."

It didn't come. COO Alistair McFarlane's follow-up: Linux is "safer for cheat developers." No plans. Garry's blog post: "not opposed to it." Still no plans.

The game worked fine on Proton with EAC disabled. Community members proved it with screenshots. Facepunch's response was to not respond.

2025: McFarlane Goes on Record

November 2025. New Steam Machine incoming. Community makes another plea on Reddit. McFarlane posts the definitive statement:

And the line that will age badly:

Games that currently support Proton or Linux and have functional anti-cheat: Elden Ring, Fortnite, Apex Legends, Deep Rock Galactic — hundreds more. EAC has a Linux runtime. Other studios use it. Facepunch has chosen not to.

The Numbers They Don't Want You To Run

Steam Linux market share when Facepunch killed the client: ~1%.

That March 2026 number is the largest single-period jump in Steam survey history. The Steam Machine is shipping. SteamOS is on desktops. The Linux gaming community isn't shrinking.

Meanwhile, Rust's cheating problem on Windows — the platform they do support — remains endemic.

The Anti-Cheat Argument Doesn't Hold

EAC supports Linux. It ships a Linux runtime. Other games enable it. Facepunch hasn't.

McFarlane's actual argument isn't that Linux anti-cheat is impossible — it's that the Linux/Proton module creates an exploitable attack surface that affects Windows too. That's a more nuanced position than "cheaters use Linux." It's also an argument that other studios have navigated and shipped around.

The cheating problem in Rust exists independent of Linux. Removing Linux didn't fix it. Adding it back wouldn't create it.

Where This Leaves Us

Rust runs on Proton right now. Perfectly. With EAC disabled you can join a handful of community servers. The game works. Facepunch won't flip the switch.

200 Linux users were playing Rust even after Facepunch removed the client, even when the binary was broken, even when they couldn't join official servers. One community member put it plainly in 2019:

That's the Linux gaming community in one observation. Stubborn. Technically capable. Willing to work around the obstruction.

Facepunch's position is their right to hold. It's also my right to spend my time and money elsewhere. There are good games on Linux. Rust isn't one of them — not because of technical barriers, but because of a decision made by people who never booted the platform they were shipping to.

Own your hardware. Own your OS. Support the studios that support you back.

Sources: rust.facepunch.com/news/linux-plans · pcgamer.com · gamingonlinux.com · Steam Hardware Survey data via community tracking