Can I play Windows (Steam) games on Ubuntu?

Question

I am downloading Ubuntu and I really want to play Windows games from Steam but I don't want it to replace my OS.

Answer 1

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

Answer 2

You should take a look at PlayOnLinux. You can install steam on it and play your games just like you would in Windows.

_{(source: ubuntu.com)}

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.

Answer 3

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/

Answer 4

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 ;)

Answer 5

Of course you can install Steam in Wine and play Windows games. There is complete guide in Steam. See https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Steam_under_Linux#Step_1:_setting_up_Wine

The most simple way is to use winetricks:

    winetricks steam

If you are dual-booting your machine, it is possible to symlink your steamapps folder from linux to the windows location. This will allow you to maintain only one copy of the game downloads. Example (stop steam first):

    cd $HOME/.wine/drive_c/Program\ Files/Steam/
    mv steamapps steamapps.bak
    ln -s <ABSOLUTE-WINDOWS-DRIVE-MOUNT-POINT>/Program\ Files/Steam/steamapps steamapps

If you symlink your steamapps folder, make sure you have your windows drive mounted before launching steam or it will fail to login and present a network related error message. If you use 64-bit windows, the program files directory will need an (x86) suffix.

Answer 6

Just search steam for linux then click the first one then click on download now or just go here instead of searching:http://store.steampowered.com/about/ your welcome

Answer 7

There are lots of applications to run Steam (windows) games on ubuntu or any other GNU/Linux OS... eg- wine, crossover linux and many more !

but wine might be slow in some of the games you can check the game rating on wine itself and the quality too.

Cross over linux has a benefit that the games will not run slow but you have to pay for crossover (14 days trial )

Play on linux might help you if you have any iso file but not useful much for steam.

THANKYOU

Answer 8

The latest Doom Wolfenstein the old blood and the new order along with max pane work with the steam play on Linux. Those are the only ones I know of that are working.

Answer 9

I don't think wine slower than other stuff like playonlinux or crossover (what is free on Deepin Linux).

Alot games not running on wine either,i guess mostly the new games but alot running what is older game with wine, also work dosbox or pcsx (PlayStation emulator) no problem.

Answer 10

from steam (not on playon, the normal steam) try to go on the right side of the game picture --> click "Properties" --> accessibility --> force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool --> Protoss

it should let u install the game even if it was intended only for microsoft or apple.

enjoy