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How can I install and run Steam on Ubuntu?

kiri
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9 Answers9

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Steam is now released for Ubuntu and there's no need to run Wine or any other thing to get it to work.

Run

sudo apt-get install steam

Or Install it with this button:

Install via the software center

This offers the easiest method for installing Steam. After clicking the orange button you may not have Ubuntu Software Centre configured to install .apk's. To get Ubuntu Software Centre to show Steam from this link browse to software-centre which is located at /usr/bin/software-centre when prompted after clicking on the orange button.

When installing the "buy" button is not asking for payment to be able to install the Steam for Linux client as it is only indicating you need to buy games in order to use the client for playing games or using apps once the client is installed.

Which means if you have already Steam Play or Linux games in your Steam library there is no cost at all in order to be able to use the Steam for Linux client to play games as it possible to sign in to Linux client with the same account details as with Windows client; just not both at same time.

Also consider upgrading you video drivers as shown in this article step-by-step, doing so will allow you to get the best performance on your graphics card. The article covers the drivers installation for the NVIDIA, AMD/ATI and Intel graphics cards.

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Marco Ceppi
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  • Error: steam64: Depends: steam (= 1.0.0.27ubuntu1) but it is not going to be installed. – Wok Feb 16 '13 at 00:13
  • @wok That error could indicate problems with your system or config - you should probably open a separate question about it (after doing a search). – thomasrutter Feb 18 '13 at 04:25
  • Is it possible to update answer with more install options. There are a lot of questions asking how to get steamplay games available to both OS's but only using one library/installation directory. Had started working on a canonical q and a but found this. – geezanansa Aug 07 '13 at 15:56
  • Example q's requesting this - http://askubuntu.com/q/281519/102029; http://askubuntu.com/q/292164/102029; http://askubuntu.com/q/260288/102029 ... – geezanansa Aug 07 '13 at 16:25
  • .apk's? Do you mean .deb? – kiri Oct 07 '13 at 00:01
  • "Steam is now released for Ubuntu and there's no need to run Wine or any other thing to get it to work." - and what about Windows only games that could be run with Wine? From what I've read installing Steam through Wine enables them to work. Some games won't work in newer Windows versions, but will still work with Wine, in this case it may still be useful to install Steam through Wine – gaazkam Jul 20 '16 at 15:56
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I recommend you to use plain Wine without PlayOnLinux. Winetricks is helpful, however.

Steam Games on Linux website has detailed information about which games can be played successfully, and what you have to do for that.

  • First of all, make sure you have installed proprietary graphics drivers if they are available.
  • Install the latest Wine.
  • Configure Wine (look at STEAM + WINE CONFIGURATION section)
  • Go to Winetricks and follow these steps:
    • Select the default wineprefix OK
    • Install a Windows DLL or component OK
    • It is important to mark d3dx9 here. Optional packages that may be needed for some games: d3dx10, vb6run, vcrun2005, vcrun2008, vcrun2010, physx. OK
    • Install a font OK
    • Mark corefonts and tahoma. OK
  • Next, download Steam and go through the installer.
  • When you create an account or just log in, you should have no trouble downloading your games through Steam as usual and playing them.
  • Make sure to change video settings in the game to low ASAP (don't miss the "advanced" video settings for Valve's games). Windowed mode is mostly better. It is good to restart the game after this.
Oleh Prypin
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  • "Make sure to change video settings in the game to low ASAP" - why ASAP and not after figuring out that performance is low? – gaazkam Jul 20 '16 at 17:09
7

The easiest way to run Steam on Ubuntu is definitely Crossover Games. CX Games supports a lot of games like Starcraft II, Civilization V, Left4Dead and so on. Furthermore there is professional support you can contact if you run into problems. Try the trial version!

NiBu
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A few hours ago the Steam Beta client for Linux has arrived. It can be found here. Everyone can install it, but only beta access users can use it at te moment.

Edit

A workaround to use Steam without beta access has been found. 

steam steam://open/friends

EDIT Steam is now in open beta.

EDIT

Steam is now in the Ubuntu Software Centre.

OrangeTux
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4

I just install Steam on 10.10 this morning with wine and it was super easy. That said the actual games are another story. Just download the .msi file from steam and use the terminal to install it.

Rob
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3

In addition to Marco's great answer, I think it is relevant to argue that the best method to run Steam on Ubuntu might be by running it as a standalone session. Depending on your preferences, it may not be as convenient as running Steam for Linux from a logged on Unity session, but it will probably spare you valuable resources so you can have a smoother gaming experience.

popey and Jorge Castro adress the issue here, but the gist of it is that this standalone session is achievable through a third-party app called steam-login, which can be easily installed running the following in a terminal:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:thor27-gmail/steam-desktop 
sudo apt-get update 
sudo apt-get install steam-login
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Waldir Leoncio
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1

An easy way to install Steam is to use PlayOnLinux. The advantage of using this approach (as opposed to using plain Wine or the native Linux version) is that it allows you to download and install Windows games---which otherwise wouldn't work natively on Linux---that are already linked to your Steam account. PlayOnLinux also allows you to easily customize your "Windows" installation, such as installing required dependencies or tweaking the registry.

landroni
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steam-native-runtime

Try installing by using the steam-native-runtime package available from an Arch repository ('i686' & 'x86_64'). This package includes needed libraries that the official [steam_latest.deb][2] archive does not. For further reading, check the steam-native-runtime wiki, Steam/Troubleshooting.

steam_latest.deb (official archive)

⇝ 1] Download[↴] the steam_latest.deb archive from Steam.

⇝ 2] Open Terminal & enter these commands:

cd ~/Downloads
sudo apt-get install python-apt
sudo dpkg -i steam_latest.deb

⇝ 3] Now, open the newly added Steam launcher, or enter command steam. You'll need to accept the Terms & Conditions the first time you launch it.

David your friend
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Install Steam on Ubuntu 22.04 or 20.04 via Steam APT Repository

Step 1: Import Steam GPG Key on Ubuntu.

curl -s http://repo.steampowered.com/steam/archive/stable/steam.gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/steam.gpg > /dev/null

Step 2: Add Steam APT Repository on Ubuntu

echo deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/steam.gpg] http://repo.steampowered.com/steam/ stable steam | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/steam.list

Step 3: Update APT Cache After Steam PPA Import on Ubuntu

sudo apt update

Step 4: Install the Steam on Ubuntu 22.04 or 20.04 via APT Command

sudo apt-get install \
  libgl1-mesa-dri:amd64 \
  libgl1-mesa-dri:i386 \
  libgl1-mesa-glx:amd64 \
  libgl1-mesa-glx:i386 \
  steam-launcher

With the author's consent source:https://www.linuxcapable.com/how-to-install-steam-on-ubuntu-linux/

Karol78
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