Demo guide: what is in it and how to fix it
The free demo has the tutorial plus one full mission and three languages: English, French and Simplified Chinese. It has been out since July 29, 2025, and the current build is the fully updated version released in June 2026.
The Legion Was Here demo is free, has been available since July 29, 2025, and contains the tutorial plus one complete mission. It is also the only version of the game you can play before October 13, 2026, and it is where nearly every public bug report comes from.
As of the last check it holds 82 Steam reviews at a Very Positive rating, 76 positive and 6 negative. That split matters: some of the negative reports describe problems you can work around in two minutes.
What the demo includes
- The tutorial, which teaches the dossier, the operating room and the conversation phases
- One full mission with the Neptunian target, the Mount Rushmore objective and the clown-costume photograph
- The magnifier tool and the rest of the dossier toolset
- Three languages: English, French and Simplified Chinese
Its Steam page lists only single-player, the demo itself and Steam Cloud. No achievements, no ending.
The demo is not the 2025 build any more. A fully updated version went live on June 9, 2026 with a user interface much closer to the final game, Chinese localisation and a new key visual. If you played it at launch and found it rough, the current build is different.
Languages in the demo versus the full game
| Version | Languages |
|---|---|
| Demo | English, French, Simplified Chinese |
| Full game | English, French, Simplified Chinese, German, Spanish (Spain), Russian, Japanese, Traditional Chinese, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Spanish (Latin America), Korean |
The developer has explained the gap: because many clues sit inside images rather than in text, localising a dossier means reworking visual assets, far slower than translating a text-based game. The studio says it will watch wishlist growth by region to decide what comes next.
Known problems and fixes
| Problem | Cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Stuck on a purple screen after choosing a language | Traced to ticking the no-flash option on the language screen | Do not tick that box. The developer shipped a fix on June 29, 2026 |
| Game will not start, or shows a black window on Linux | The game needs WebView2, absent from a default Proton prefix | Install the WebView2 runtime into the prefix with protontricks, then relaunch |
| No visible mouse cursor on Linux after WebView2 is installed | Reported by several Linux players | Relaunching sometimes restores it, but players report the game is effectively unplayable on Linux |
| Recording captures a white or black screen in OBS, and the Steam overlay does not work | The WebView-based renderer is not captured by the usual hooks | No public workaround. It is a known limitation of the demo's rendering stack |
| Pressing F12 opens developer tools instead of taking a screenshot | The screenshot binding is overridden by the developer tools shortcut | Rebinding screenshots does not help; use an external tool |
| Demo freezes on entering the laboratory | Reported once with a timestamped stream; the developer asked for system specs and published no cause | Restart, and report your operating system and GPU on the Steam board |
| Slowdowns on a laptop with two GPUs | Documented by the developer in the game's own requirements | Force the discrete GPU for the game in your NVIDIA control panel |
| Visual artefacts around Legion's eyes and near the zoom and hand buttons | Reported by multiple players with different results each session | Cosmetic, but worth reporting with a screenshot |
The Linux situation will not be fixed for launch. After players found the WebView2 workaround, the developer replied that if the problem is genuinely Linux-specific he will not be able to publish a Linux build right now, because he does not have the resources. Players added that WebView2 gets the game to launch but with no cursor, and that layers flicker in and out. Treat Linux and Steam Deck as unsupported.
Photosensitivity and the no-flash option
The game warns that some sequences contain flashing lights and visual effects that may trigger seizures. An option to disable intense visual effects was added at the start of the game in October 2025.
The older language-screen hang was traced to the no-flash checkbox, so make sure you are on the current build before assuming the freeze is back.
Should you play the demo first
Yes — it is the only place to practise reading a dossier where a wrong conclusion is cheap. The beginner guide covers your first ten minutes.
FAQ
Is the demo still available?
Yes. It is a separate Steam listing from the full game and is free to download.
Does demo progress carry over to the full game?
No carry-over has been announced, and the demo lists Steam Cloud rather than a shared save. Assume you start the full game from the beginning.
Why does the demo only have three languages?
Because the clues live inside images. The developer says localisation requires extensive changes to visual assets, and languages are prioritised by wishlist growth per region.
Is the demo the same as the full game?
No. One mission plus the tutorial, three languages instead of twelve, no achievements or endings.
