Support for Cross-platform Cloud Saves

[Gregory]

We're preparing some changes in order to support cross-platform cloud saves between Windows, Linux, and Steam Deck for X4: Foundations. For the vast majority of players, this transition will be completely seamless and will require no action.

The changes can, however, affect players who regularly play on Linux computers. Steam Deck players are not affected, unless a native Linux runtime was explicitly selected in the Steam Deck settings for X4.

The changes are planned to happen on Thursday, February 19, 2026 at 15:00 CET (14:00 UTC, 6am PST, 9am EST, 22:00 CST - see in your timezone).

What this means:

• After these changes, the Steam Cloud will sync savegames and game settings across Windows, Linux, and Steam Deck.
• For most players, nothing needs to be done.
• For Linux desktop players, there is a risk that saves and settings get lost. To avoid that, please see the instructions below.

Instructions:
If you have X4 savegames on a Linux machine that you would like to keep, please make backups of them. We highly recommend doing that before the changes take effect. Making backups is generally also a good idea on Windows. See the save locations below.

Additionally, after our changes are in place, please follow these steps:

• Restart the Steam client on your Linux machine
• Run X4 on your Linux machine
• Exit X4 (Steam will update the files in your Steam Cloud)

This makes sure that your saves and settings get migrated properly in the Steam Cloud. If you do not follow these steps, there is a risk that they will get lost when you first play the game on a different machine.

Locations of saves and settings:
Windows:

Code: Select all

Documents\Egosoft\X4\<steamid>

Linux:

Code: Select all

~/.config/EgoSoft/X4/<steamid>

Steam Deck (default Proton runtime):

Code: Select all

~/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/392160/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/Documents/Egosoft/X4/<steamid>

<steamid> stands for a unique number that represents your Steam account.

If you cannot find your saves in the locations above, you may still find them stored in the Steam Cloud. You can manually download them from the Steam Cloud website and place them in your local savegame folder.

Additional info:
Previously, the Steam Cloud had distinct storage locations for Windows files and for Linux files. This meant that saves did not automatically sync across the two platforms. (At the moment, the Steam Deck uses the Windows version of X4 by default, so it syncs with a Windows PC, but not with a Linux PC.)

With the changes, both Linux and Windows save files will be stored in the Steam Cloud with a Windows-like path. Upon syncing files from the Steam Cloud to a Linux machine, the paths will be translated to the corresponding Linux location on the disk, so that files are downloaded from and uploaded to the Windows location. Linux players will need to play the game at least once on Linux, so that Steam will upload any existing Linux files to the new cloud location.

These changes are an important step toward improving Linux and Steam Deck support for X4: Foundations (particularly, allowing us to use the native Linux version on the Steam Deck by default). They also enable a number of fixes and improvements that we’ve wanted to deliver for quite some time.

Thank you for your patience and your support.

[rudi_pioneer]

Awesome, this will simplify a lot (steam deck and Linux user).

After this is done, should we delete local Linux saves? I assume that X4 will do one time copy from Linux to windows folder?

I might have stale windows X4 saves from few years ago, in this case do I need to manually overwrite windows ones?

[LordArthas]

se agradece,asi no habra problemas con las partidas anteriores tambien esperamos que hagan algo con el buque de reabastecimiento por que cuando le das la orden de reabastecerse no hace nada espero que revisen eso,gracias

[CBJ]

tambien esperamos que hagan algo con el buque de reabastecimiento por que cuando le das la orden de reabastecerse no hace nada espero que revisen eso,gracias

Please don't derail this thread. This is not an update to the game; it's a Steam configuration thing.

[BitByte]

After this is done, should we delete local Linux saves? I assume that X4 will do one time copy from Linux to windows folder?

If I understand following part correctly this change won't affect local files but only to cloud side:
"On Linux machines, the Steam client will translate the cloud location to the corresponding Linux location on the disk, so that files are downloaded from and uploaded to the Windows location."

So answer to your question would be no

Steam client will just look from same place locally as before but will upload files in cloud to same place as Windows files goes. And when downloading them client will place them in local disk to original linux location.

[rudi_pioneer]

After this is done, should we delete local Linux saves? I assume that X4 will do one time copy from Linux to windows folder?

If I understand following part correctly this change won't affect local files but only to cloud side:
"On Linux machines, the Steam client will translate the cloud location to the corresponding Linux location on the disk, so that files are downloaded from and uploaded to the Windows location."

So answer to your question would be no

Steam client will just look from same place locally as before but will upload files in cloud to same place as Windows files goes. And when downloading them client will place them in local disk to original linux location.

Oh great, so it’s actually pretty automated!

Will there be a conflict if I have old windows saves on steam? Based on this sounds like no because steam should resolve to newer files?

[BitByte]

Will there be a conflict if I have old windows saves on steam? Based on this sounds like no because steam should resolve to newer files?

Steam client should handle that. If locals are more recent then client should upload them to cloud and overwrite outdated versions.

[Gregory]

Just FYI, we specified the wording a bit on this part:

With the changes, both Linux and Windows save files will be stored in the Steam Cloud with a Windows-like path. Upon syncing files from the Steam Cloud to a Linux machine, the paths will be translated to the corresponding Linux location on the disk, so that files are downloaded from and uploaded to the Windows location. Linux players will need to play the game at least once on Linux, so that Steam will upload any existing Linux files to the new cloud location.

[graham_hawkins]

Greetings!
I run X4 on a Linux desktop PC and a SteamDeck.

In order to get save game compatibility between them, on the SteamDeck I run under 'Steam Linux Runtime 1.0 (scout)', which means the saves are under ~/.config/EgoSoft/X4/<steamid> for both platforms. Steam syncs both platforms correctly using this configuration.

My question is, after the update, will the new SteamDeck compatibility layer recognise that I'm using the Linux runtime (rather than Proton) and sync from/to the Linux path? Or will it use the Windows compatibility path regardless of how I run X4?

Thanks,
Graham

[KlausM]

My question is, after the update, will the new SteamDeck compatibility layer recognise that I'm using the Linux runtime (rather than Proton) and sync from/to the Linux path? Or will it use the Windows compatibility path regardless of how I run X4?

The paths on disk remain the same as before, for both Windows and Linux.

The bit that changes is how the saves are stored in the Steam Cloud (i.e. where the files get uploaded to). From now on, only the Windows-like path in the Steam Cloud will be used - the former cloud path for Linux will not be used any more.

[Tomonor]

UPDATE: These changes have now been applied. Please take a moment to review the instructions in the original news post and follow them carefully.

[xrogaan]

My question is, after the update, will the new SteamDeck compatibility layer recognise that I'm using the Linux runtime (rather than Proton) and sync from/to the Linux path? Or will it use the Windows compatibility path regardless of how I run X4?

The paths on disk remain the same as before, for both Windows and Linux.

The bit that changes is how the saves are stored in the Steam Cloud (i.e. where the files get uploaded to). From now on, only the Windows-like path in the Steam Cloud will be used - the former cloud path for Linux will not be used any more.

Oh, that's a lot clearer. So people who don't have anything in the cloud on the windows path have nothing to fear.

[Woofski1]

Hello! Unfortunately I missed the advice to backup my save files, and now Steam has overwritten my current saves on Linux with my saves from when I played on Windows last year

I'll be shocked if it's possible to recover them, but I'm asking anyway just in case: do you know of any way to revert the changes Steam Cloud made to my save files, so I can continue my current game?

Thanks in advance

[BitByte]

Hello! Unfortunately I missed the advice to backup my save files, and now Steam has overwritten my current saves on Linux with my saves from when I played on Windows last year

I'll be shocked if it's possible to recover them, but I'm asking anyway just in case: do you know of any way to revert the changes Steam Cloud made to my save files, so I can continue my current game?

Thanks in advance

Try this:

If you cannot find your saves in the locations above, you may still find them stored in the Steam Cloud. You can manually download them from the Steam Cloud website and place them in your local savegame folder.

I don't use Steam Cloud by myself so no clue if this can still work after change was done.

[Woofski1]

Hello! Unfortunately I missed the advice to backup my save files, and now Steam has overwritten my current saves on Linux with my saves from when I played on Windows last year

I'll be shocked if it's possible to recover them, but I'm asking anyway just in case: do you know of any way to revert the changes Steam Cloud made to my save files, so I can continue my current game?

Thanks in advance

Try this:

If you cannot find your saves in the locations above, you may still find them stored in the Steam Cloud. You can manually download them from the Steam Cloud website and place them in your local savegame folder.

I don't use Steam Cloud by myself so no clue if this can still work after change was done.

Thank you for the tip! I gave it a go, but the saves files there were the Windows ones as well.

I think it's an issue with how Steam resolves file conflicts, as there are some Linux files saved in the Cloud, but the ones that got replaced by Windows didn't have unique names (like they were "autosave_01", "save_001", etc.) and for some reason Steam decided to overwrite them with older Windows files.

[Rastuasi]

Went flawlessly here, but never played on Windows. That said, I've noticed that cloud save uploads now went from a mere 5 second time to 7-10 minutes time to complete. Is this a side effect of the conversion every upload?