Final Fantasy XIV's new login process makes the game unable to be launched on the Steam Deck (nor Linux)

[Dreamboum]

Square Enix has forced a login process to link your Steam Account with your Square Enix account, deprecating the old launcher in favor of the new. Except the new launcher is not supported by Linux (or Proton), and this update completely prevents you from using any kind of third party launcher allowing Linux support.

This means that buying the game on Steam completely locks you into the Steam ecosystem, it is impossible to launch the game outside of Steam, and you cannot launch any third party launcher either, so people are currently stuck.

Despite the free marketing the game received from Lord GabeN, even him will not be able to play the game on the deck anymore starting from today. Baffling decision all around to fuck Steam users thoroughly.

 

[Teiresias]

I play on a non-Steam install and my launcher looked the same today. Did the Stream version use a different launcher before?

 

[JB2448]

Considering Newell himself plays it, I don't see this being an issue for too long.

 

[Dreamboum]

I play on a non-Steam install and my launcher looked the same today. Did the Stream version use a different launcher before?

Click to shrink...

There is a new launcher and Steam forces the use of this launcher with the new update that is not supported by Linux.
From what I can read, third party launcher devs said the damage is far more than they expected because they relied on the legacy launcher to make their stuff run.

So basically, you have to hope you never once played a free trial or bought the game on Steam or you are locked there. Otherwise a non-Steam install might still work.

 

[Holygriever]

I play on a non-Steam install and my launcher looked the same today. Did the Stream version use a different launcher before?

Click to shrink...

Same launcher, Shadowbringers brought in a new launcher but you can elect to use the old one. Stema users are now forced into the new launcher, though.

I am personally unbothered as I've always launched my game from Steam anyway, so nothing changes for me essentially.

 

[Giolon]

Gabe better get to work on making that "new" (2+ year old) launcher work with Proton if he wants to keep playing and healing his son.

 

[Charpunk]

So if I understand correctly, I can still play on steam deck if I have the standard non-steam version?

 

[Astrot]

You can still use the legacy launcher with ProtonGE on the Steam Deck/Linux to login in to your none Steam account on the Steam Deck. So it still works on Linux but only for none Steam User.

 

[Sioul]

Gabe will miss today's reclear

 

[pompo]

You can still use the legacy launcher with ProtonGE on the Steam Deck/Linux to login in to your none Steam account on the Steam Deck. So it still works on Linux but only for none Steam User.

Click to shrink...

Is there a tutorial on how to set this up or is it as easy as downloading the standalone game and adding it as a non-steam game?

 

[AgeEighty]

None of this would bother me all that much if they'd just let us change our accounts from Steam to non-Steam. Hell I'd even repurchase a new license for the game from them. It's the fact that I have no recourse all because of a choice I made 8 years ago with no way of knowing anything would be different.

 

[Ruck]

I don't even know why this has to be a thing. This is the second time they've tried to force people who own the game on Steam to launch it from Steam, but previously you could just add a line to the shortcut and get around it. Why do they care so much? I don't want to run extra shit in the background while I play. I really don't care how little resources Steam uses, I don't want it running if I don't have to have it running.

I'm pretty strongly against 3rd party launchers and plugins because a lot of them really toe the line between cheating and QoL but I will absolutely use one if they get it to work around the Steam requirement.

 

[Theswweet]

So, just to check - if I'm a non-Steam player, I can still circumvent the issue and play on Linux?

 

[Dreamboum]

So, just to check - if I'm a non-Steam player, I can still circumvent the issue and play on Linux?

Click to shrink...

Possibly so with the access of the legacy launcher but I cannot check for myself

 

[Fanuilos]

Lame, but hopefully they're able to figure it out. Seems like an unintentional consequence if people can still use the old launcher from the non-steam pc version.

 

[Dakkon]

This was definitely an unintended consequence, the new launcher uses some special Microsoft code that WINE can't emulate atm is the problem.

It's meant to be a positive thing, because if you aren't on Linux but just Windows [like me], it effectively renders your FF14 account near unhackable if you treat your Steam account securely like you should. In order to get into my FF14 account someone now has to:

* Know my FF14 login username
* Know my FF14 login password.
* Know my FF14 associated e-mail address.
* Have the phone I use for my FF14 mobile authenticator.
* Know my Steam login username.
* Know my Steam login password.
* Know my Steam associated e-mail address.
* Have the DIFFERENT phone I use for my Steam Guard authenticator.
* Know the PIN number I lock my Steam account with.

It's not happening.

....more secure than my bank account honestly, which is kinda sad. LMAO.

 

[Moosatronic]

This was definitely an unintended consequence, the new launcher uses some special Microsoft code that WINE can't emulate atm is the problem.

It's meant to be a positive thing, because if you aren't on Linux but just Windows [like me], it effectively renders your FF14 account near unhackable if you treat your Steam account securely like you should. In order to get into my FF14 account someone now has to:

* Know my FF14 login username
* Know my FF14 login password.
* Know my FF14 associated e-mail address.
* Have the phone I use for my FF14 mobile authenticator.
* Know my Steam login username.
* Know my Steam login password.
* Know my Steam associated e-mail address.
* Have the DIFFERENT phone I use for my Steam Guard authenticator.
* Know the PIN number I lock my Steam account with.

It's not happening.

....more secure than my bank account honestly, which is kinda sad. LMAO.

Click to shrink...

The real reason they probably implemented the change is because people discovered that you could launch non-steam ffxiv from steam in either the free trial or the normal ffxiv by simply editing the game's steam config under the hood. They know that this compromises their steam version (as it allows people to buy the non-steam version and masquerade as steam users), so they probably did this change primarily to prevent problems in their relationship with valve.

For steam linux ffxiv users, their best bet in the short term will be using xivlauncher, as the xivlauncher people are working on a fix for xivlauncher to launch steam linux ffxiv as we speak. Basically the developers of XIVlauncher have replicated the hash algorithm used by the vanilla launcher, basically XIVlauncher hashes the game's boot files in exactly the same way as the vanilla launcher. XIVlauncher's devs have also been steadfast in supporting linux and now steam deck support as well, they will likely be the ones to be relied upon.

However given that Gaben himself plays ffxiv on the steam deck, and valve has a vested interest in having ffxiv playable on the steam deck, they could possibly step in to to help square make ffxiv more steam deck friendly, like they did with linux EAC support for example.

 

[Moosatronic]

To add on, I really think you should be able to log on with your non-steam account if you buy the steam version like you can with the Playstation version of FFXIV. (i.e. you only pay one subscription, and you can play on any platform).

 

[Ruck]

To add on, I really think you should be able to log on with your non-steam account if you buy the steam version like you can with the Playstation version of FFXIV. (i.e. you only pay one subscription, and you can play on any platform).

Click to shrink...

Yeah it's really wild that Steam and Not-Steam are somehow different platforms while *also* being the same platform. Their account stuff has always been such a mess. I really, truly would not give a shit if I had to buy the game again from SE directly to get off Steam, especially if it came with a month of playtime like the console version does if you add it. But I'm sure Valve really doesn't want people to be able to take away their cut of the subscription.

 

[MayorSquirtle]

This was definitely an unintended consequence, the new launcher uses some special Microsoft code that WINE can't emulate atm is the problem.

It's meant to be a positive thing, because if you aren't on Linux but just Windows [like me], it effectively renders your FF14 account near unhackable if you treat your Steam account securely like you should. In order to get into my FF14 account someone now has to:

* Know my FF14 login username
* Know my FF14 login password.
* Know my FF14 associated e-mail address.
* Have the phone I use for my FF14 mobile authenticator.
* Know my Steam login username.
* Know my Steam login password.
* Know my Steam associated e-mail address.
* Have the DIFFERENT phone I use for my Steam Guard authenticator.
* Know the PIN number I lock my Steam account with.

It's not happening.

....more secure than my bank account honestly, which is kinda sad. LMAO.

Click to shrink...

I mean, all you need is to set-up the one time password with an authenticator app and none of these other hoops are really necessary. There are people who used workarounds to avoid launching through Steam because it introduced performance issues that can't do it anymore. There are also people who no longer have access to the Steam account they purchased the game with and that previously didn't matter but now they can't access their XIV account at all unless Steam support can help them get their Steam account back. Square-Enix support won't do anything about a situation like that.

 

[Dakkon]

I mean, all you need is to set-up the one time password with an authenticator app and none of these other hoops are really necessary.

Click to shrink...

Pretty easy for someone to take your phone or for you to lose your phone, it's all about having multiple lines of defense tbh. There's a slim chance with just the 1 authenticator, there's no chance with all that bullshit now.

There are people who used workarounds to avoid launching through Steam because it introduced performance issues that can't do it anymore.

Click to shrink...

Steam uses so little resources this is doubtful, but even if true you can still kill Steam after launching the game (always have been able to), so if performance is their problem it still doesn't exist.

There are also people who no longer have access to the Steam account they purchased the game with and that previously didn't matter but now they can't access their XIV account at all unless Steam support can help them get their Steam account back. Square-Enix support won't do anything about a situation like that.

Click to shrink...

This process is about linking your account to a Steam account, it actually doesn't care if the Steam account you link it to is the one you used before, the entire process is about which one you want to link it to for the future. (so the people in this case can make a new Steam account they won't forget and register their FF14 account to that) (edit: to be clear, they make a new Steam account, add the free trial edition, then it will work as normal because your licenses are tied to your FF14 account, not the Steam account they used to use, so the Trial Edition will download all the content you own and act normal after logging in with your licensed account.)

 

[Astrot]

Possibly so with the access of the legacy launcher but I cannot check for myself

Click to shrink...

This still works for me on the Deck atleast I could login yesterday after the update on my Deck.

 

[Moosatronic]

This still works for me on the Deck atleast I could login yesterday after the update on my Deck.

Click to shrink...

Wait are you telling me that Square Enix went to all this trouble to enhance the security of the steam xiv launcher, to ensure that you have to start the game from the steam account that owns the same steam-pc FFXIV account, but Square Enix didn't fix the extremely easy long-standing exploit to simply add "NOSTEAM=1" added by Glorious Eggroll for non-steam FFXIV players to launch the game from steam? (that basically just allows you to use the non-steam version by taking away the flags that say you are booting the steam version). This was an exploit that was first performed using a Windows steam entry editor that Glorious Eggroll eventually implemented into Linux in his Proton-GE.

I would think that makes the non-steam version the definitive version to buy currently, and yet another example of how drm often, even unintentionally, has anti-consumer effects. (i.e. punishes the purchaser and rewards the pirater/person circumnavigating the drm)

I think the funniest part about this is Square Enix likely implemented this security change to protect their business relationship with Valve, but it's likely going to have the opposite effect. (as people will much much prefer the non-steam version).

I just really think the FFXIV staff didn't fully think this through (unless their true intention was to encourage more non-steam ffxiv purchases, but I don't think they were playing such 4D chess in this case, it's easier to explain this as a result of incompetency.)

I still very much think the solution is to simply allow non-steam users to like, the PS4/PS5 version, allow non-steam players to use the steam version if they have purchased the game and access the latest expac content if they bought the steam version of endwalker. Like this seems like common sense as it encourages more purchases of the game and doesn't limit players if they bought a non-steam version, or just the steam version.