How to play God of War on Linux
God of War is the 4th installation in the God of War series. Originally on PlayStation 4, the game has made its way to PC. Here’s how you can play God of War on Linux.
Getting God of War working on Linux
God of War was originally only released for PlayStation 4. However, it’s recently made its way to the PC via Steam. Therefore, if you wish to run this game on Linux, you will need to install the Steam version on your Linux computer.
Install Steam
To install the Linux Steam app on your computer, open up a terminal window. You can open up a terminal window on the Linux desktop by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T on the keyboard. Or by searching for “Terminal” in the app menu and launching it that way.
With the terminal window open, the installation can begin. Follow along with the installation instructions below to get Steam up and running on your computer.
Ubuntu
On Ubuntu, you can install the Steam app by using the apt install command down below.
sudo apt install steam
Debian
If you use Debian Linux, you can install Steam, but you must first download the DEB package from the internet to your computer. To download the latest version of Steam to your computer, use the wget download command.
wget https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/client/installer/steam.deb
After downloading the latest release of Steam to your Debian computer, the installation process can begin. Using the dpkg command down below, set up the package.
sudo dpkg -i steam.deb
Once the package is installed, you will need to correct any dependency issues that may have occurred during the installation.
sudo apt-get install -f
Arch Linux
Steam is on Arch Linux, but the “mutlilib” software repository must be enabled. To enable this software repository, open up the /etc/pacman.conf file as root in a text editor.
Once the text editor is open, find the “multilib” line and remove the # symbol. Then, remove the # symbol from the lines directly below. Once everything is removed, save your edits and run the pacman -Syy command.
sudo pacman -Syy
Finally, install the latest Steam version on your computer by using the pacman -S command.
sudo pacman -S steam
Fedora/OpenSUSE
Are you on Fedora or OpenSUSE? If so, you’ll be able to get the latest version of Steam using the software repositories included within your operating system. However, the Steam app works better as a Flatpak on these OSes, so follow those instructions instead.
Flatpak
To get Steam working as a Flatpak on your computer, start by enabling the Flatpak runtime on your computer. After setting up the Flatpak runtime, you can install the Steam app by entering the two commands below.
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
flatpak install flathub com.valvesoftware.Steam
Install God of War on Linux
With Steam installed, open it up. Then, log in and follow the step-by-step instructions below to get God of War working.
Step 1: Open up the Steam app and click on the “Steam” menu. Inside of the “Steam” menu, click on the “Settings” button to load up the Steam settings area.
Once inside of the Steam settings area, locate the “Steam Play” section, and click on it with the mouse. Then, check both boxes on the page to enable Steam Play/Proton compatibility.
Click the “OK” button to apply the changes made.
Step 2: After setting up Steam, you must install a custom Steam Play/Proton version. This version is known as Glorious Eggroll, and it will help God of War run better on Linux.
To set up Proton GE, please follow our ProtonUp guide. It will walk you through how to set up Proton GE with ease on Linux.
Step 3: With Proton GE set up on your Linux computer, click on the “Store” button inside of Steam. Then, type in the “Search” box “God of War.” Once you’ve located the game in the search results, click on it to access the “God of War” Steam store page.
Step 4: On the God of War store page, find the green “Add to cart” button to add the game to your Steam cart. Then, click on the Steam cart button to purchase the game and add it to your account.
Step 5: Find the “Library” button inside of the Steam app and click on it to access your Steam library. Then, locate “God of War” in your games library, and right-click on it.
After right-clicking on God of War, select the “Properties” button to access the game’s Steam settings. Then, click on the “Compatibility” section, and check the box next to “Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool.”
Step 6: After you’ve chosen “Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool,” select the version of Proton GE you installed with the ProtonUp app in Step 2.
Step 7: Find the “Set launch options” inside of the God of War properties window. Then, paste the code below to make God of War run better in Proton.
DXVK_ASYNC=1 %command%
Step 8: Find the blue “INSTALL” button and click on it to download and install God of War to your computer. The installation process shouldn’t take too long. When the process is complete, the blue “INSTALL” button will become a green “PLAY” button. Select it to start up the game.
