Play all windows games on linux

How to play Windows games on Linux

The most often question you’ve been asked as a Linux user is how do you play games? Well, when it comes to gaming we know that Windows leads Linux to some extent. That doesn’t mean that we can never play our favorite Windows games again. It’s just a misconception that Ubuntu does not support Windows gameplay. What people don’t usually know is that game developers are increasingly taking advantage of the Linux’s growing market. Not only there are companies making Linux based games but companies like Valve or Steam are trying to develop tools that can support Windows games on your Linux system, not just Ubuntu but Linux in general.

A big advantage of using Linux over any other gaming platforms is the stability it has to offer. Other systems are generally loaded with bugs or freezing issues. Gamers can easily get frustrate from untimely interruptions whilst completing their missions. To save you from this trouble, Linux will give you better stability in the gaming domain as well.

So now coming to the juicy part of our topic, how exactly can you play Windows games on Linux? Below are tools that support your favorite Windows games on Linux.

The most common way to support Windows games is to get Wine installed on your system. When the WineHQ released their first stable version 1.0, it already supported 200 most popular games of Windows. The latest version of wine also offers rankings of the games which help in determining the number of configurations they require. If you see a Platinum ranking, it means that the game has 99% chances of working. Gold ranking means that you’d need to configure them a little bit, but in the end, they’ll work fine. They are labeled as gold because they haven’t been integrated with the newest version of wine. Silver and Bronze labels mean that there may be some issues in the game. Of course, if a game shows garbage ranking, the chances of it working would be as rare as seeing a penguin talk. Check out their huge database before installing it.

Steam Play

A new beta version of the Steam play was released this year. A way that allow users to access Windows, Mac and Linux versions of steam games. They already had more than 3000 games for Linux users and have been adding more with each day. In order to increase the compatibility with the Windows games, they decided to include the beta version of Steam Play which includes a modified of Wine, Proton.
Their official site has listed some of the benefits that the new version will provide:

• Windows games with no current Linux versions can be installed and run directly from Linux Steam client.
• It will include complete built-in support for Steamworks and OpenVR.
• Improved game compatibility and reduced performance impact due to the implementation of DirectX 11 & 12
• Games will recognize all controllers automatically.
• Multi-thread games will have improved performance as compared to vanilla Wine.

Check out the list of games that new Steam beta version supports.

PlayOnLinux (POL)

Not only does it provide an interactive and user-friendly front-end, but also includes a series of pre-built scripts to help users install some specific games pretty quickly. It is an effective and more user-friendly interface to Wine emulator, allowing you to configure and access it outside of command line. The advantage that you have is if you cannot find your game listed in PlayOnLinux or if the script fails, you can just visit Wine Application Database and enter the name game you desire in the Search box. Cons of POL is that Wine is hardware specified meaning that its performance will depend on the kind of hardware you’re using and unfortunately POL cannot work without Wine.

Lutris

Lutris is a tool that allows you to install and manage games on Linux. It works for built-in and Windows games as well as emulators. A Wine-based compatibility layer, Proton, which allows playing Windows-only games, but is strictly for steam games. Lutris can be used to enhance your experience of playing other games, like Blizzard games. It provides a large database of games and has install scripts for download.

Conclusion

People are trying to move towards Linux due to the greater degree of stability it offers. Gamers have this idea that Linux won’t be able to support their favorite games, hence they are hesitant. However, it is just a hox and companies, worldwide, are putting efforts to provide comfort to gamers who might want to shift to Linux.

About the author

Zeeman Memon

Hi there! I’m a Software Engineer by degree, Blogger by skills who loves to write about tech, develop websites & do SEO. You can reach out to me on LinkedIn.

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Запускаем Windows игры в Linux

На мой взгляд, именно Steam и Lutris предлагают максимально современные и легкие решения для запуска игр. В качестве примера, поиграем в World of Tanks и World of Warships на Ubuntu 19.04.

Еще недавно, запускать Windows игры в Линукс было тем ещё квестом, затмевающим интерес к игре из-за тяжелого и не всегда удачного процесса установки игры.

С появлением DXVK (библиотеки основанной на Vulkan, позволяющей транслировать 3D приложения (игры) Direct3D 10/11), и как следствие Steam Play (Proton) – установка многих игр в Линукс стала почти такой же легкой как и в Windows.

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Запуск Windows игр в Linux с помощью Lutris

Lutris – сервис с игровым приложением, предоставляющий автоматизированные, настроенные скрипты для установки игр.

Интеграция с такими игровыми магазинами, как GOG и Steam, позволяет импортировать существующую библиотеку игр, а поддерживаемые сообществом установочные сценарии обеспечивают полностью автоматизированную настройку.

Установка Lutris в дистрибутивы на основе Ubuntu

Для корректной работы Lutris, разработчики рекомендуют предварительно установить Wine (версию Staging). Установить Wine в Ubuntu можно по инструкции официального сайта: Installing WineHQ packages

Для Ubuntu подобных дистрибутивов добавляем репозиторий Lutris:

Для лучшей производительности необходимо установить последнюю версию видеодрайвера и библиотеки Vulkan.

Пользователям видеокарты Nvidia нужно добавить репозиторий с новыми драйверами и затем удобным способом установить последнюю версию драйвара:

Выбрать драйвер можно с помощью встроенной утилиты Программы и обновления – Дополнительные драйверы.

Если видеокарта поддерживает Vulkan API, то устанавливаем необходимые библиотеки (скорее всего они уже установились при установке видеодрайвера. Проверить, если видеокарта поддерживает Vulkan можно по ссылке: Vulkan API):

Пользователям видеокарт AMD / Intel (Ubuntu 18.04 и выше):

Установка игр в Linux с помощью Lutris

Переходим на официальный сайт программы в раздел Games и выбираем нужную нам игру.

Найдя игру, выбираем (если доступно) редакцию скрипта с нужным нам сервером (например для World of Tanks это будет RU DXVK version). Нажимаем на Install. В качестве примера будет показана установка игры World of Tanks в Ubuntu 19.04.

Ссылка откроется в установленном приложении Lutris, нам предложат установить игру. Нажимаем на Install.

Дальше можно выбрать папку, в которую будет установлена игра. Продолжаем установку. Будет установлена нужная для данной игры версия Wine, соглашаемся на все установки. По окончанию установки онлайн установщика будет предложено создать ярлыки и запустить игру.

Затем откроется полноэкранное окно, в котором будет осуществляться установка игры. Не пугаемся, с помощью клавиш ALT+TAB можно вернуться в рабочее окно.

Запустить установленную игру можно как из программы Lutris, так и из списка установленных приложений.

Аналогично установил игру World of Warships в Ubuntu 19.04.

Именно в Ubuntu столкнулся с проблемой, при которой курсор мыши в игре не позволял делать обороты около 180 градусов. Ранее устанавливал игру в окружениях KDE и Cinnamon (Linux Mint), такой проблемы там нет. Если курсор вывести нажатием на CTRL, то можно захватить другие обороты мыши. Решение: переключение отображения игры в оконный режим.

Устанавливаем Windows игры в Linux с помощью Steam (Proton)

Для совместимости игр с операционными системами GNU/Linux, компания Valve разрабатывает проект Proton (Steam Play), который в свою очередь состоит из различных наработок, таких как Wine, DXVK, esync. Подробнее почитать о Steam Proton можно в нашей статье: Steam Play улучшает поддержку Windows-игр для Linux.

Информация о качестве поддержки Windows игр в Steam Proton доступна по ссылке: ProtonDB.

Для включения опции Proton, нам необходимо открыть Steam – затем Настройки – Steam Play – и включить доступные опции.

Версию Steam Proton стоит выбирать самую актуальную, т.е с большим номером.

Дальнейшая установка игр ничем не отличается от установки в системе Windows. Steam Play автоматически произведет нужные настройки для установки игры.

Сравнение производительности видеокарты Nvidia Geforce 1060 в Ubuntu 19.04 и Windows 10

Сравнение проводилось на ноутбуке с видеокартой Nvidia Geforce 1060 (6 ГБ) и процессором Intel® Core™ i7 8750H. Операционные системы Windows 10 1903 (build 18362.10019), версия видеодрайвера NVIDIA GeForce Game Ready 436.15 и система Ubuntu 19.04 с версией видеодрайвера 430.40 (самый актуальный в репозитории ppa:graphics-drivers).

World of Tanks

Танковые сражения в World of Tanks в Windows 10 показывали от 115-130 fps до 150-165 fps, в зависимости от игровой сцены.

В Ubuntu 19.04 от 100 до 120 fps. Настройки Высокие, sd клиент.

World of Warships

В морских сражениях World of Warships в Windows 10 производительность держалась от 65 до 75 fps.

В Ubuntu 19.04 игра World of Warships показала производительность от 60 до 70 fps, но периодически сильно проседала до 25 fps. Настройки высокие, hight клиент.

Обе игры в Ubuntu были установлены с помощью Lutris.

War Thunder

Также, с интересом проверил производительность видеодрайвера в игре War Thunder. В Windows 10 игра была установлена с помощью нативного клиента, а в Ubuntu 19.04 с помощью Steam (нативная версия).

В морских сражениях в War Thunder в Windows 10 отображался fps от 65 до 85, в воздушных боях около 100 fps.

В Ubuntu 19.04 варьировался fps от 35-55 в морских сражениях и 75 fps в воздушных.

Версия из Lutris, использующая DXVK, в Ubuntu 19.04 показала fps от 50 до 75 в морских сражениях и 60 fps в воздушных.

Знаю, что разработчики War Thunder тестируют версию с использованием библиотек Vulkan. Не тестировал её, но уверен, что производительность будет значительно выше, чем у нативной версии, использующей OpenGL.

Euro Truck Simulator 2

В симуляторе Euro Truck Simulator 2 производительность в Windows 10 отображалась от 85 до 120 fps.

В Ubuntu 19.04 производительность игры ETS 2 варьировалась от 55 fps (в редких случаях) до 110 fps. В обоих случаях были использованы настройки Ультра.

Как видим, производительность игр в Linux уступает Windows 10, но при использовании библиотек DXVK и Vulkan разница гораздо меньше, чем при использовании OpenGL. В любом случае это прорыв для пользователей Linux: доступных игр стало гораздо больше, а их установка стала максимально простой.

На мой взгляд, осталось решить проблему работы античитов. Именно из-за проблемы с работой некоторых античитов, в Linux не доступна еще масса игр.

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How to play Windows games in Linux

The best ways to run Windows games new and old on Linux, updated for 2019.

The continued (and usually justified) distaste for Windows 10 has given more momentum than ever to Linux as a desktop platform. Most Linux-based operating systems are free to use, have a consistent interface, and don’t break with every update—what’s not to like?

While Linux can run much of the same software that Windows can, including all major web browsers and many productivity tools, gaming has always been a rough point for the platform. Major games natively written for Linux are still few in number, but Windows compatibility layers like Wine and various emulators have been filling in the gaps.

Thankfully, Linux gaming has improved quite a bit in the past year. Steam Play allows you to play Windows games effortlessly through Steam, without fiddling with configuration files or installers yourself (most of the time, anyway). Meanwhile, tools like Lutris have made it easier than ever to play games through the Wine compatibility layer.

In this guide, we’ll show you the best ways to play Windows-only games on your favorite Linux distribution—whether it be Ubuntu, Debian, Arch, Fedora, or something else.

Steam Play/Proton

For years, the ‘Wine’ compatibility layer has made it possible to play Windows games on Linux. For the past three or so years, Valve has been working with Wine developers to improve game compatibility, and the result is Proton. Proton, also called ‘Steam Play,’ is a modified build of Wine developed by Valve—and it’s built right into Steam for Linux. That’s right, the dark days of installing Steam inside of Wine to play Windows-only Steam games are over.

Steam Play is an incredibly impressive compatibility layer, and it makes running Windows games in Linux easier than ever. It can translate Windows DirectX calls to Vulkan API calls, resulting in better compatibility and performance than ever before, and it works perfectly with external controllers and Steam Overlay.

To get started with Steam Play, install Steam for Linux if you haven’t already. This process varies a bit depending on what Linux distribution you’re running.

Installing Steam on Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Pop_OS, and most other Debian-based distros

Go to the Steam download page and click the big download button. You should get a .deb file. Double-click on the file, and a package manager will open asking you if you want to install the application. Once the process is complete, Steam should be available in your app launcher, and you can open it and log in.

Installing Steam on Elementary OS

While Elementary OS is based on Debian/Ubuntu, newer versions of Elementary don’t automatically have the application required to open .deb files. So first, you need to install ‘Eddy’ from the AppCenter. Once Eddy is installed, go to the Steam download page, click the big download button, and open the .deb file it gives you. After all that is done, Steam should be available in your app launcher. Try opening it and logging in.

Installing Steam on Fedora, Arch, and most other distros

If you’re using a distribution that isn’t based on Ubuntu/Debian, you’ll have to install Steam from the unofficial Flatpak. Flatpak is a way of packaging applications to work on a wide variety of Linux distributions.

First, some minor setup may be required depending on the exact distribution you’re using. The official Flatpak website has super easy instructions for getting everything set up.

Once that’s done (and you’ve rebooted your PC, if it said to in the instructions), we need to make sure the Flathub repository is set up. Run this command in the Terminal:

Then install Steam with this command:

After that’s done, Steam should appear in your app launcher. Open it and log in.

Enabling Steam Play for all games

Valve currently tests games before officially certifying them for Steam Play. However, there is a setting in Steam that gives you the option of running non-certified games in Steam Play. While many titles work just fine, keep in mind that some games (especially newer ones, or some that use certain DRM methods) might have issues or won’t work at all. The worst that can happen is the game not running—you don’t have to worry about corrupting other games or breaking Steam.

To get started, click the Steam menu at the top-left of the main Steam window, and select ‘Settings’ from the dropdown. Then click ‘Steam Play’ on the left side, make sure the the box that says ‘Enable Steam Play for supported titles’ is checked, and check the box for ‘Enable Steam Play for all other titles.’

After that’s done, click OK. Steam might want to restart to apply your changes. With all that done, go to your Steam library, click the dropdown menu next to the search bar, and make sure ‘Games’ is selected. Now you can see all your Steam games—including those for Windows—and install them with just one click. The helpful «runs on this computer via Steam Play» message will let you know which games will be installed using the compatibility layer.

If you want to check if a certain game will run in Steam Play before you download it, check out ProtonDB. It’s a community-maintained database that can probably tell you if a certain game works or not, complete with helpful instructions and tips for getting troublesome games to run.

Steam Play is a fantastic piece of software, and it makes playing popular Windows games in Linux far easier than it ever was before. as long as the game is available in Steam. For games found on other storefronts and launchers, another tool might be able to help you out.

Lutris

Lutris describes itself as an «open source gaming platform for Linux.» It’s a front-end for programs like Wine, RetroArch, and DOSBox—you pick the game you want to play, and everything required to get it working is downloaded and set up for you. It supports games like League of Legends, Skyrim, Warframe, Overwatch, and more. It can even detect and add any Linux-native games you might already have installed and add them to the launcher.

Installing Lutris

Lutris has detailed installation instructions on its website, so we won’t re-invent the wheel here. On most distributions, it only takes a command or two to get everything installed.

How to use Lutris

To get started with Lutris, just open it from your app launcher, click the search button, type in a game, and click the ‘Search Lutris.net’ button. You’ll get a list of games you can install, and double-clicking on it will display the ways you can install it. For example, The Witcher 2 can be downloaded from GOG for Linux, GOG for Windows, Steam for Linux, and Steam for Windows.

Also, Lutris supports more than just Windows games. It offers multiple «runners» for playing games from different platforms, including RetroArch (retro games), DOSBox (DOS games), MAME, ScumVM (LucasArts titles), Snes9x (SNES games), and ZDoom (DOOM-based titles).

If you’re feeling adventurous, you can install games manually using whichever runner you want. Lutis has no shortage of options and configuration settings.

Conclusion

Steam Play has made it easier than ever to run your entire Steam catalog on Linux, and Lutris is a significant improvement over the script-based game installers of old (anyone remember PlayOnLinux?). With these two tools, you can enjoy thousands of games that will likely never have an official Linux port.

Of course, there are still more ways to run Windows games on Linux. You can install VirtualBox and run a Windows virtual machine, though you’re likely to run into performance problems with newer games. If you’re feeling adventurous, you could try setting up a VM with support for GPU passthrough.

CrossOver by CodeWeavers is another popular way to run Windows software on Linux, and many of its developers helped Valve develop Steam Play. However, CrossOver is more oriented towards business use, so it doesn’t have as many supported games as Lutris.

Corbin is a tech journalist and software developer living in Georgia. He plays a lot of Planet Coaster.

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