Despite the hopes of some users, a Roblox staffer confirmed on the Dev Forums that the platform will not be supporting Linux in the future. The decision was attributed to the difficulties and expenses associated with ensuring compatibility on a fragmented platform, as well as the company’s focus on maintaining and improving Roblox on its current platforms.
The full comment from the Roblox staffer reads, “From a personal perspective, a lot of people at Roblox would love to support Linux (including me). Practically speaking, there’s just no way for us to justify it. If we release a client, we have to support it, which means QA, CS, documentation, etc., all of which is much more difficult on a fragmented platform. We release weekly on a half-dozen platforms. Adding in the time to test, debug, and release a Linux client would be expensive, which means time taken away from improving Roblox on our current platforms.”
Even Wine, a compatibility layer that allows running Windows applications on Linux, encountered issues with Roblox. The platform’s new 64-bit Byfron Anti-Cheat client was incompatible with Wine, causing Roblox to block its use. Addressing this issue, the Roblox staff member said, “As wonderful as it would be to allow Roblox under Wine, the number of users who would take advantage of that is minuscule compared with our other platforms, and it’s not worthwhile if it makes it easy for exploiters to cheat.”
Despite the disappointing news for Linux users, the Roblox staffer expressed personal regret over the decision, stating, “From a technical and philosophical perspective, it would be a wonderful thing to do. But our first responsibility is to our overall community, and the opportunity cost of supporting a Linux client is far, far too high to justify.”
In response to Wine compatibility issues, another Roblox staff member acknowledged the challenges of the Windows ecosystem and confirmed that Wine is not officially supported. They added, “We are committed to working towards compatibility where possible. Unfortunately, I cannot provide a specific timeline for this support. However, I assure you that it remains a priority for our team.” For now, the future of Linux support on Roblox remains uncertain, with the focus on enhancing the platform for its larger user base.
That is a very bad decision