Hytale will launch with native Linux support, though the Steam Deck is "not officially recommended"

Cubey sandbox crafter Hytale launches into early access next Tuesday, January 13th, after a dicey few months in which it was cancelled, bought out by the original developers, and revived like a majestic square-beaked phoenix. It’ll also have a native Linux version, allowing anyone fed up with Microsoft’s continued bullshit to play it on a system running something that isn’t an increasingly bloated or prematurely abandoned Windows.

There are caveats, mind. In a Xitter post announcing the Linux version, Hypixel co-founder and tech director Kevin Carstens – well spotted by Gaming on Linux – stresses that it’ll be an “experimental” endeavour, potentially susceptible to bugs specific to different distributions (sub-versions) of the open-source OS. And the Steam Deck, which runs the Linux-based SteamOS, is in a trickier position still. Carstens explains that limited testing on a docked Deck, with the handheld aided by a mouse and keyboard, suggests it can run local singleplayer fine, though it’s “not officially recommended” as a Hytale-playing device as the game currently lacks controller support.

It’s easy to see this as the latest move in a campaign of expectation management on Hypixel’s part, the newly minted developer-owners having previously warned that Hytale is “still very much unfinished and broken”, as well as electing not to release on Steam until it’s been hammered into better shape. Broadly, though, this is still good news for Linux PC owners. It remains a rarity for games to get full-blooded native ports, and even a buggy Linux version can sidestep the pitfalls of running a Windows game on a compatibility layer, as the Steam Deck does for most of its playable catalogue.

I wouldn’t count the Deck out entirely, though. It’s apparently already cleared the performance hurdle – Hytale is “well playable” on it, according to Carstens – and considering that the Java version of fellow block-manipulator Minecraft can be tweaked and tuned to run on Valve’s portable PC, despite its own lack of controller/gamepad support, it’s not outside the realm of possibility that Hytale could find a similarly custom-built solution. At the very least, Linux compatibility bodes well for the upcoming Steam Machine, which also runs SteamOS and adopts a PC-like box design that lends itself better to mouse and keyboard piloting. It even looks a little like a Hytale block.

Steam hardware surveys indicate Linux usage grew slightly in 2025, amid widespread (and vocal) consumer dissatisfaction with Microsoft’s shuttering of Windows 10, stuffing of Windows 11 with unwanted and potentially dangerous AI ‘features’, and questionable military contracts. While I’m not aboard the boycott train just yet, the possibility of freeing myself from the Redmond monopoly is becoming more and more attractive, especially when more and more developers are taking Linux seriously as an alternative. And when it’s just not nearly as rubbish for games as it used to be.

But what say you, reader? Should we be paying more attention to Linux, potentially outside the relatively ‘big’ SteamOS developments? Here’s a poll – let us know. Feed us with data, that we may all be nourished.