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Project RockWhistle: Announcing GameVault 2

· 4 min read
Alper Alkan
Alper Alkan
Co-Founder of Phalcode

After three amazing years of GameVault, we can finally talk about something we've been quietly working on for the past few months.

Ever since the very beginning, one of the biggest requests we have received has been pretty simple: "Where is the Linux support?"

Until now, the GameVault client application has been limited to Windows.

That is about to change.

Meet GameVault 2 (Codename "RockWhistle")​

Over the last few months, we have been rebuilding the foundations of the GameVault client around the frontend that many of you already know as the GameVault Web UI.

But the Web UI was never meant to be just a Web UI.

Underneath, the same application can run inside a Tauri desktop wrapper, which lets us package the same frontend as a proper desktop application for Windows, Linux and eventually other platforms as well.

After a lot of work behind the scenes, we're getting close to the point where you can actually try it through our early access program.

GameVault 1 is feature-complete​

Before going into GameVault 2, there is one important change to how we are developing GameVault going forward. You might have already seen the warning when creating issues on the gamevault-app repository, but we want to make it clear here as well:

The current GameVault 1 Windows application is now considered feature-complete.

It isn't going away, and you can absolutely continue using it. But after three years of development, we have reached the point where we don't plan to add any further features to the existing Windows-only client.

Apart from necessary maintenance, such as critical bug fixes and security updates, active development of GameVault 1 has come to an end.

From now on, our development focus is shifting 100% to the new cross-platform GameVault 2 application, which you can find in this GitHub repository..

Back to the basics, but built properly from the ground up​

For the Early Access version of GameVault 2, we rebuilt the most essential parts of the GameVault workflow on top of the new cross-platform foundation and squeezed in plenty of smaller improvements along the way.

More importantly, designing the new client meant we could draw on three years of experience with the original. The little pain points, technical limitations, and "we really should have done this differently" moments from GameVault 1 could all be taken into account in the new design from day one.

The new client already includes the following features:

  • A redesigned library with search, filters, sorting, and a dedicated Installed Games section
  • Downloading and installing specific game versions, including archive extraction, password-protected archives, and support for both portable and setup-based games
  • Managing installed games: playing them, configuring launch parameters, choosing executables, and tracking playtime
  • An offline mode for playing installed games and tracking playtime without a server connection, with playtime synced back once you reconnect
  • Multiple game root directories, startup options, and system tray support

This is still an MVP​

We want to be very clear about that part.

GameVault 2 Early Access is not a full release yet.

The existing Windows client remains the current feature-complete GameVault desktop experience for the time being.

Our goal for this first GameVault 2 release is to get the fundamental GameVault experience working reliably across platforms. There will be rough edges, missing functionality and probably a few interesting bugs for us to hunt down together.

From here on, functionality from GameVault 1 will gradually make its way into the new application wherever it still makes sense.

And because all active feature development is now happening there, GameVault 2 will eventually become the main GameVault desktop client.

One particularly important thing is still missing from the MVP:

GameVault+ features are not implemented yet.

If you are a GameVault+ user, you'll need to have a little more patience. Bringing the GameVault+ functionality to the new client is our next major priority now that the core application is reaching this point.

Want to try it?​

We're opening up an Early Access phase for people who want to get their hands on the new client as early as possible, test it on their systems and help us shape GameVault 2 while it is still being built.

👉 Sign up for Early Access here

We will notify everyone who signs up via Discord as soon as the Early Access version is ready.

GameVault is still built by two developers as a side project, and seeing what it has grown into over the last three years has been pretty incredible for us. So genuinely, thank you to everyone who has used GameVault, reported bugs, requested features, supported GameVault+, contributed, helped other users or simply followed the project along the way.

We’ll see you in RockWhistle. 🙂