- Can I play Windows (Steam) games on Ubuntu?
- 10 Answers 10
- How to Play Windows-only Games on Linux with Steam Play
- Play Windows-only games in Linux with Steam Play
- Step 1: Go to Account Settings
- Step 2: Enable Steam Play
- Things to know about Steam Play feature
- How Do You Identify Games That Work On Steam Play?
- Can Linux run Steam games?
- Is Steam good for Linux?
- What Linux does Steam support?
- Is Steam faster on Linux?
- How to play Windows games with Steam on Linux • 2022
- What percentage of Steam users use Linux?
- What percentage of Steam games work on Linux?
- Why doesn’t Steam work on Linux?
- Can I install Steam on Linux?
- Is Steam on Linux free?
- Is Linux faster than Windows?
- Can you play GTA 5 on Linux?
- Can I play Elden ring on Linux?
- Can Ubuntu play Steam?
- What is better Linux or Windows?
- Where do Steam games install on Linux?
- How do I run Steam on Linux Chromebook?
- How do I transfer Steam games to Linux?
- When did Steam support Linux?
- Why Linux doesn t support games?
- Why are there so few games for Linux?
- Will Steam Deck only play Linux games?
- Do most games support Linux?
- Do most servers run Linux?
Can I play Windows (Steam) games on Ubuntu?
I am downloading Ubuntu and I really want to play Windows games from Steam but I don’t want it to replace my OS.
10 Answers 10
You can install Ubuntu along side Windows and boot into either one when you turn on your computer. But that is beside the point. (You will probably NOT want to replace Windows if this is your first time installing Ubuntu.). Just select ‘Install Ubuntu alongside Windows X’ in the installer.
You can run Windows steam games on Linux through WINE. Though it will be a huge amount easier just running Linux Steam games on Ubuntu, it IS possible to run some of the windows games (though it may be slower). I think there are instructions here: https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Steam_under_Linux#Step_2:_installing_steam.
Basically you want to run this in a terminal (for Ubuntu 18.04+):
sudo apt-get install wine winetricks winetricks steam
Note that for Ubuntu 16.04 and earlier, winetricks is a dependency of wine . You can do do this instead, and it’ll be equivalent:
sudo apt-get install wine winetricks steam
Ah interesting! In Xenial wine depended on winetricks , but that seems to be no longer the case for bionic. I’ll update my answer- thanks!
You should take a look at PlayOnLinux. You can install steam on it and play your games just like you would in Windows.
In the PlayOnLinux window that pops up click the “+ Install” button. In the popup window that appears, search for: Steam. Select «Steam» from the list and click the «Install» button.
I know this is an old question, but it is worth revisiting due to new features from Valve. As of August 21, 2018, the Beta version of the Steam Client for Linux extends Steam Play to support trying to run Windows games on Linux via their own special version of Wine called Proton. See: https://steamcommunity.com/games/221410#announcements/detail/1696055855739350561
Currently, only whitelisted games will run by default, and you do need a beta version. To get the beta version, enable it in the Steam client. Click on «Steam» button on the left corner of your Steam client window. With the Account pane selected, find the item «Beta participation» and click the «Change» button. In the new dialog, select «Beta participation» to «Steam Beta Update». Click «OK», then restart Steam. WARNING: It is possible that various things could be broken because of being in the beta, but so far that hasn’t happened to me, and I enabled it a fairly long time ago. Once the beta version is running, there is a settings option «Enable Steam Play for all titles.» Now you can try any Windows game and find out if it is one that works or not. Third party reports on what or doesn’t work appear to be being collected here: https://spcr.netlify.com/
Do not expect to be able to play all of the games you had on windows! To see all the games from steam available for linux go to this page http://store.steampowered.com/browse/linux/?l=english.
As far as I know none of the triple-A games of publishers like EA have been ported yet. It is not in Valves power to port these games since they don’t belong to them.
The only thing Valve can do is trying to put some pressure on the publishers.
You can expect however to be able to play all of Valves own games within reasonable time.
So far Counter Strike, CS:Condition Zero, CS:Source, Half-Life 2, HL2: Lost Coast, Left 4 Dead 2, Portal and Team Fortress 2 are available.
The other games you will find are mostly indie games, many of them quite good 😉
How to Play Windows-only Games on Linux with Steam Play
Game distribution platform Steam has implemented a fork of WINE; it’s called – “Steam Play”. With Steam Play, Linux users can play games available on Windows only. A compatibility tool «Proton» is used for Steam Play to make Windows games work on Linux.
Play Windows-only games in Linux with Steam Play
You need to install Steam first. Steam is available for all major Linux distributions. I have written in detail about installing Steam on Ubuntu, and you may refer to that article if you don’t have Steam installed yet. Once you have Steam installed and you have logged into your Steam account, it’s time to see how to enable Windows games in the Steam Linux client. Suggested Read 📖
Step 1: Go to Account Settings
Run Steam client. On the top left, click on Steam and then on Settings.
Step 2: Enable Steam Play
Now, you’ll see an option Steam Play in the left side panel. Click on it and check the boxes:
- Enable Steam Play for supported titles (This is usually checked by default to let you run supported Windows games seamlessly)
- Enable Steam Play for all titles (With this option, you can try/experiment other games that may not be known to work)
You can also opt to change the version of the compatibility layer (Proton) if you need it. Once you are done selecting the options, hit “OK” and proceed to restart steam in order for the changes to take effect.
To get the latest compatible support, you may want to use «Proton Experimental«. If you want to use a Proton version that is still in the testing phase, Proton Next should be the pick.
In either case, if the game supports a specific version as per your research, you can enable any of the available older versions as well.
For example, I have Age of Empires in my Steam library, which is not available on Linux typically. But after I enabled Steam Play for all Windows titles, it now gives me the option for installing Age of Empires on Linux.
Things to know about Steam Play feature
There are a few things you should know and keep in mind about using Windows-only games on Linux with Steam Play:
- A large number of Window-only games work on Linux using this feature. Some are AAA (triple A) titles, and some are indie games.
- You should not expect for all games to work seamlessly. Some might crash, and some might need a little troubleshooting to make things work with your hardware.
- You can always refer to ProtonDB or Steam Deck verified list to find games that you should try first.
- If you have games downloaded on Windows via Steam, you can save some download data by sharing Steam game files between Linux and Windows.
In addition, you should refer to our Linux gaming guide for more information.
How Do You Identify Games That Work On Steam Play?
I’m sure that you don’t have a lot of free time to download games one by one and test them with Steam Play.
As mentioned earlier, you can visit ProtonDB to check reports/stats contributed by gamers to see what games work and what do not.
Any game that has a rating of silver and above can be tried. However, it would make more sense to try Platinum/Gold-rated games first. The website also lists the games that are Steam Deck verified, which is also an excellent way to know what works on Linux.
You can use that as a reference to decide whether you should download/purchase a particular game.
I hope this tutorial helped you in running Windows-only games on Linux. Which game(s) are you looking forward to playing on Linux?
Can Linux run Steam games?
Thanks to a tool from Valve called Proton(Opens in a new window), which leverages the WINE(Opens in a new window) compatibility layer, many Windows-based games are completely playable on Linux through Steam Play.
Is Steam good for Linux?
Steam is the most popular platform for PC games, and there’s more work than ever going into Linux support with the arrival of the Steam Deck. Now there’s an upgraded version of the Snap package for Steam, aiming to make desktop Linux gaming even easier.
What Linux does Steam support?
Steam on Linux supports both x86 and x64, it’s highly recommended that you ship 64 bit binaries as the vast majority of users will be running that. The Steam for Linux Client Github page is very active and contains the bug tracker for the Linux Steam Client.
Is Steam faster on Linux?
I’ve setup my PC to dual boot and steam downloads (not installs, I’m talking about consistent high speed download rates) the same games much faster on Linux than they do on Windows.
How to play Windows games with Steam on Linux • 2022
What percentage of Steam users use Linux?
Using the latest months recorded share (Feb-2023 — 1.27%): 1,676,400 estimated «monthly active users» for Linux+Steam. To be clear, that is not the total, that is monthly active.
What percentage of Steam games work on Linux?
Thanks to Valve’s ProtonDB compatibility layer, 80% of Steam’s top 100 games are now playable within Linux operating systems.
Why doesn’t Steam work on Linux?
You will want to install a 32-bit OpenGL program and make sure it runs properly, as most issues with Steam starting up on Linux are due to problems with the installation OpenGL drivers, or the lack of drivers entirely.
Can I install Steam on Linux?
If you are using Fedora or an RPM-based Linux distribution, you can install Steam using RPM Fusion. For all other Linux distributions, you can use Flatpak to install Steam.
Is Steam on Linux free?
Is Linux faster than Windows?
Linux has a reputation for being fast and smooth while Windows 10 is known to become slow and slow over time. Linux runs faster than Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 along with a modern desktop environment and qualities of the operating system while Windows is slow on older hardware.
Can you play GTA 5 on Linux?
It is possible to play Grand Theft Auto V (GTA 5) on a Linux-based computer, but it is not officially supported by the game’s developer, Rockstar Games. As a result, you may encounter issues when trying to run the game on a Linux system.
Can I play Elden ring on Linux?
Elden Ring runs great on Linux, including online functionality. Based on the amount of misinformation being dished out on social media and the gaming press this weekend, you deserve to hear this: Elden Ring is perfectly playable on Linux, including online functionality.
Can Ubuntu play Steam?
Installation of Steam on Ubuntu
The steam application can be installed through two methods: Install Steam from Ubuntu Package Repository. Install Steam from the Official Steam Debian Package.
What is better Linux or Windows?
While Linux is more commonly used in servers and supercomputers, and Windows is more popular among personal computers, both have their own advantages and disadvantages. Windows is generally considered to be easier to use, while Linux is known for its stability and security.
Where do Steam games install on Linux?
Steam installs games into a directory under LIBRARY/steamapps/common/ . LIBRARY normally is ~/. steam/root but you can also have multiple library folders (Steam > Settings > Downloads > Steam Library Folders).
How do I run Steam on Linux Chromebook?
- Open the Google Play Store and install Steam Link.
- Connect your Chromebook to the same network as your other computer, and use the same Steam account.
- Open the Steam Link app and sign into your Steam account.
How do I transfer Steam games to Linux?
There’s no way to just move games from Windows to Linux and expect them to run. Even if the game is Linux compatible, the Windows-binary version won’t run in Linux. You must download the Linux version of that game from Steam on Linux.
When did Steam support Linux?
Initially developed for Microsoft Windows operating systems, Steam was released for macOS in 2010 and Linux in 2012.
Why Linux doesn t support games?
The main reasons are that Linux is mostly used for servers and small special purpose devices and not as widely used as a desktop OS as Windows and also because there are so many different Linux platforms. Put simply, Linux doesn’t support directX. Which almost all games run on.
Why are there so few games for Linux?
The reason, in my opinion, is that Linux has less than 2% of desktop market share and the numbers are demotivating enough for most game developers to avoid working on the Linux version of their games. Not just limited to the userbase, but not all games work perfectly on Linux.
Will Steam Deck only play Linux games?
Proton has paved the way for running Windows games on Steam Deck and Linux. You can now enjoy modern Windows titles on any Linux-compatible machine, including the Deck. Simply head over to ProtonDB and check whether your favorite game runs on the Deck or Steam Play.
Do most games support Linux?
Linux gaming refers to playing video games on a Linux operating system. Because many games are not natively supported for the Linux kernel, various software has been made to run Windows games, such as Wine, Cedega, and Proton, and managers such as Lutris and PlayOnLinux.
Do most servers run Linux?
Whether it’s a physical server or a cloud server, most of them are Linux operating systems. More than 90% of the top 1000 websites in the world use Linux as the dominant system.