How to play Control Ultimate Edition on Linux
Control is an action-adventure game developed by Remedy Entertainment. It was released in 2019 for Xbox, PS4, and Microsoft Windows. In 2020, the “Ultimate Edition” was released, which adds new features to the experience.
In Control, the player plays as Jesse Faden, an employee at the fictional Federal Bureau of Control, a secret agency that investigates things that violate the laws of reality. Here’s how to get the game working on Linux.
Getting Control Ultimate Edition working
To enjoy Control Ultimate Edition on Linux, you will need to set up the Steam Linux client.
Install Steam
To set up the Steam Linux app, open up a terminal window and follow along with the command-line installation instructions that correspond with the Linux OS you currently use.
Ubuntu
On Ubuntu, the Steam app is in the “Ubuntu Universe” software repository. To install it, run the following Apt command.
sudo apt install steam
Debian
Debian Linux doesn’t distribute the Steam app by default. However, it is possible to turn on the “non-free” software repo to get it set up. That said, it’s much easier to download Steam for Debian from the Steam website.
To download the Steam Debian package, use the following wget command. It should take a couple of seconds to complete.
wget https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/client/installer/steam.deb
When the package is done downloading to your computer, you’ll be able to install it on the Debian system by making use of the dpkg command.
sudo dpkg -i steam.deb
Arch Linux
Arch Linux has had the Steam app in their software sources for a very long time. As a result, it is very straightforward on Arch to get the app working. Using the pacman command below, install Steam.
sudo pacman -S steam
Fedora/OpenSUSE
If you’re using Fedora or OpenSUSE Linux, you should know that it is possible to install Steam on them. However, on Fedora, you need to add a third-party repo, and on OpenSUSE, it can be tedious. A much better idea is to follow the Flatpak instructions for Steam instead.
Flatpak
The official Linux Steam client is available as a Flatpak app in the Flathub app store. So, if you’re on a Linux distribution that doesn’t specifically support Steam, this installation method is the best way to go.
Setting the official Steam client up on Linux through Flatpak starts by enabling the Flatpak runtime. To set up the Flatpak runtime, install the “flatpak” package via the terminal on your OS, or follow our in-depth guide on the subject. Then, use the flatpak remote-add command below to enable Flathub.
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
Now that your Linux PC has access to Flathub, the installation of the official Steam app can begin. Using the flatpak install command below, install the latest Steam client.
flatpak install flathub com.valvesoftware.Steam
Play Control Ultimate Edition
Once the Steam app is set up on your app menu, browse for “Steam” and launch it. Then, log into your account and follow the step-by-step instructions outlined below to get Control Ultimate Edition working.
Step 1: Locate the “Steam” menu, and click on it with the mouse. Once inside the Steam menu, find “Settings” and click on it to load up Steam Settings. In the Steam Settings area, find “Steam Play” and check both “Enable Steam Play for supported titles” and “Enable Steam Play for all other titles.”
After enabling Steam Play, click the “OK” button to apply the settings.
Step 2: Now that Steam Play is enabled, find the “STORE” button, and select it with the mouse. On the Steam “STORE” page, look for the search box. Then, type “Control Ultimate Edition” in the box and press the Enter key to view search results.
Step 3: In the search results, locate “Control Ultimate Edition” and click on it to go to the Control Ultimate Edition storefront page. Then, click on the green “Add to cart” button to purchase the game.
Step 4: Once you’ve purchased Control, find the “LIBRARY” button, and select it to go to your Steam library. Then, find “Control Ultimate Edition,” and select it to access it’s Steam Library page.
On Control’s Steam Library page, find the blue “INSTALL” button, and select it to begin downloading and installing Control Ultimate Edition on Linux.
Step 5: After Control Ultimate edition is done downloading, the blue “INSTALL” button will become a green “PLAY” button. Click on it to start playing the game!
Troubleshooting Control Ultimate Edition
Control Ultimate Edition runs on Linux as if it were a native title, so there’s no reason to troubleshoot the game. That said, if for some reason you do run into issues, be sure to check out the Control Ultimate Edition ProtonDB page.
This is a guide on how to install Steam, not how to set up Control… 🤦♀️
Control exists outside of Steam, this is pretty useless as most people know how to use Proton on their Steam purchases, and if they don’t, there are millions of post-it note length guides on how to do that. Clickbait.
I followed these instructions but the game fails to start.