Rocket League developer Psyonix has explained its decision to end support for the macOS and Linux version of the game.

Last week the studio said it was "no longer viable" for it to maintain support on those platforms because it intends to keep upgrading the title with "new technologies." Now, in a post on Reddit, the company has expanded on that original statement and revealed the main reason for dropping support is an upcoming shift to DirectX 11 from DirectX 9.

"There are multiple reasons for this change, but the primary one is that there are new types of content and features we'd like to develop, but cannot support on DirectX 9. This means when we fully release DX11 on Windows, we'll no longer support DX9 as it will be incompatible with future content," wrote the studio.

"Unfortunately, our macOS and Linux native clients depend on our DX9 implementation for their OpenGL renderer to function. When we stop supporting DX9, those clients stop working. To keep these versions functional, we would need to invest significant additional time and resources in a replacement rendering pipeline such as Metal on macOS or Vulkan/OpenGL4 on Linux.

"We'd also need to invest perpetual support to ensure new content and releases work as intended on those replacement pipelines. The number of active players on macOS and Linux combined represents less than 0.3 percent of our active player base. Given that, we cannot justify the additional and ongoing investment in developing native clients for those platforms, especially when viable workarounds exist like Bootcamp or Wine to keep those users playing."

While it's a frustrating situation for the small number of players on those platforms, Psyonix has been working directly with Valve to ensure macOS or Linux players can claim a refund for the base game - despite being well outside of Steam's normal two week refund window.

Although the refund process hasn't been as smooth as Psyonix initially hoped, the studio has outlined a couple of ways players can go about getting their money back if they're unhappy with the current situation. One involved contacting Valve via their ticketing system, while the other requires players to request a refund via their Steam Support 'purchases' page.

Those affected can find out more by checking out the full explainer on Reddit.