How to play Squad on Linux
Squad is a hyper-realistic military shooter unlike any other. Players work as a functioning military unit to win wars and battles in the game. Here’s how you can enjoy Squad on your Linux PC.
Getting Squad working on Linux
Squad is not a native Linux game. However, it is confirmed to work well with Proton in the native Steam client, so Linux users can play it. To start the installation process, you must open up a terminal window.
To open up a terminal window on the Linux desktop, press the Ctrl + Alt + T button combo on your keyboard. Alternatively, search for “terminal” in the app menu and launch it.
With the terminal window open and ready to use, the installation of Steam can begin. Follow the installation instructions below that correspond with the Linux OS you use.
Ubuntu
To get the Steam app working on Ubuntu, enter the following apt install command below.
sudo apt install steam
Debian
To use the Steam app on Debian, you must download the official Steam DEB package from the Steam website. You can download the package using the following wget download command.
wget https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/client/installer/steam.deb
Once the Steam DEB package is downloaded to your Linux PC, you can install it using the dpkg command below.
sudo dpkg -i steam.deb
With the Steam DEB package installed, you’ll need to run the apt-get install -f command to correct any dependency issues that occurred during the installation process.
sudo apt-get install -f
Arch Linux
The “multilib” software repository must be enabled to install Steam on Arch Linux. You can enable it by opening up the /etc/pacman.conf file in a text editor (as root).
Find the “multilib” line and remove the # symbol with the text editor. Then, remove the # symbol from the line directly below. Save the edits and run the pacman -Syy command when done.
sudo pacman -Syy
Finally, install the Steam application on your computer using the pacman -S command.
sudo pacman -S steam
Fedora/OpenSUSE
If you use Fedora or OpenSUSE Linux, you’ll be able to install the Steam app through software sources included out of the box. However, we suggest installing Steam as a Flatpak, as it tends to work better on these OSes.
Flatpak
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
flatpak install flathub com.valvesoftware.Steam
With the Steam app installed and configured, open up the app and log into your account. Then, follow the step-by-step instructions below to get Squad working on Linux.
Step 1: Open up the Steam app, click on the “Steam” menu, and select the “Settings” button. Then, find the “Steam Play” section, and check all boxes on the page. Be sure also to set the drop-down menu to Proton Experimental.
Select the “OK” button to confirm your settings changes.
Step 2: Select the “Store” button inside the Steam app to access the Steam store. Once on the store, find the search box, and click on it with the mouse. Then, from there, type in “Squad.”
Look through the search results for “Squad,” and click on it with the mouse to access the game’s Steam store page.
Step 3: Once on the Squad Steam store page, find the green “Add to cart” button and select it with the mouse. Selecting this button adds the game to the cart on Steam for purchase.
Step 4: After purchasing Squad, select “Library” to access your games library. Look through for “Squad,” and click on it with the mouse. Then, select the blue “INSTALL” button to download and install the game.
Step 5: Once “Squad” is done downloading to your computer, you will need to enable anti-cheat support on your system manually. Without doing this, you will not be able to play the game.
Head over to Squadfm.org and follow the Linux Easy Anti-Cheat instructions. Understand that these instructions can be confusing, so be sure to check Squad’s official ProtonDB page for guidance.
Step 6: When anti-cheat is officially enabled for Squad on your Linux PC, you’ll be able to play the game. Select the green “PLAY” button inside of Steam to start up Squad on your Linux gaming PC.
