WARDOGS on Linux, Mac and Steam Deck

Linux: Proton support is being worked on, not promised

BULKHEAD’s position, from a developer post on the Steam board on 4 September: “We do not officially support Linux and we cannot commit to having support for launch. We are still working on Official Linux Proton compatibility.” The post says that where earlier alpha and beta tests ran on Linux it was “by happen stance”, and corrects a community manager’s Discord message that had suggested launch support. An update dated 25 September adds nothing new: BULKHEAD repeats that “it is still our desire to officially support Linux via Proton” and says it will announce once compatibility is confirmed. There is no date.

BULKHEAD’s “UPDATE: Linux Compatibility” post →

Steam Deck, SteamOS and Steam Machine: all Unsupported

Valve rates WARDOGS **Unsupported** on Steam Deck — its lowest tested rating, and a verdict rather than an absence of one. This site first recorded it on 13 September. Read again on 7 October, Valve’s compatibility data returns the same Unsupported result for SteamOS and for Steam Machine, each with a single test note that SteamOS is not supported. Those ratings are Valve’s, not BULKHEAD’s, and they would change if official Proton support arrives.

WARDOGS system requirements →

What players report from Proton

ProtonDB, where Linux players file their own reports, held 496 reports for WARDOGS on 7 October. Its overall tier was Bronze, its trending tier — the recent reports — Borked, and its best single report Platinum. That spread fits BULKHEAD’s account that earlier tests ran on Linux by happenstance: the recent reports are the ones rated Borked. The store page also discloses kernel-level anti-cheat (Elytra); BULKHEAD has not said whether that is what stands between WARDOGS and Proton, so this page does not either.

ProtonDB reports for WARDOGS →

Mac: no native build, and GeForce NOW is the named route

Steam’s data for WARDOGS lists Windows only — macOS false, Linux false — and neither BULKHEAD nor Team17 has announced a Mac version. Team17’s game page says WARDOGS is available on GeForce NOW, NVIDIA’s cloud service, which streams the same Windows build from NVIDIA’s servers. It does not make you a different platform: you play the same game on the same servers. Which Macs and other devices can run the GeForce NOW client is NVIDIA’s list, not BULKHEAD’s.

WARDOGS platforms, consoles and crossplay →

If you bought it for Linux or Deck

BULKHEAD’s own advice, in the same post: “please, refund the game if you mistakenly bought it thinking you would be able to run Linux via Proton on September 10th.” Steam’s normal rule — within 14 days and under two hours played — still decides it, and for a pre-order the 14 days ran from 10 September.

How to refund WARDOGS on Steam →

Common questions