How to play Subnautica: Below Zero on Linux
Subnautica: Below Zero is a sequel to the open-world survival game Subnautica. The game was developed and published by Unknown Worlds Entertainment. Here’s how you can play the game on Linux.
Getting Subnautica: Below Zero working on Linux
Subnautica: Below Zero isn’t a native Linux game, sadly. It seems the developers have no plans to release Subnautica: Below Zero on the Linux platform. However, the good news is that the game has a “Platinum” rating on ProtonDB, and according to users, it runs out of the box.
To get Subnautica: Below Zero running on your computer, you’ll need to install the Steam application on your Linux computer. You can install it by opening up a terminal window on the Linux desktop.
Unsure about how to open up a terminal? Press Ctrl + Alt + T on the keyboard. Alternatively, search for “Terminal” in the app menu and launch it that way. Once it is open, follow the distro-specific instructions below to get Steam working on your Linux PC.
Ubuntu
To get Steam working on Ubuntu, use the following apt install command below.
sudo apt install steam
Debian
To install Steam on Debian, you must first download the Steam DEB package to your computer. You can download the latest version of Steam to Debian via the wget download command below.
wget https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/client/installer/steam.deb
The installation can begin after grabbing the latest Steam DEB package on your computer. Using the dpkg command, set up the newest release of Steam on Debian.
sudo dpkg -i steam.deb
Once Steam is set up, you will need to correct any dependency issues that occurred during the installation process. To fix it, use the apt-get install -f command below.
sudo apt-get install -f
Arch Linux
The latest Steam version is available on Arch Linux; you must enable the “multilib” software repository on your system. To do this, open up the /etc/pacman.conf file in a text editor (as root).
Inside the text editor, find “multilib” and remove the # symbol and the # symbol from the lines directly below. When done, save the edits and run the pacman -Syy command.
sudo pacman -Syy
Finally, install the latest Steam version on your Arch Linux system by using the pacman -S command.
sudo pacman -S steam
Fedora/OpenSUSE
Both Fedora and OpenSUSE Linux have Steam in their software repositories, and if you use either of these operating systems, you will be able to get the app working this way. However, the Flatpak release of Steam works much better, so we suggest following those instructions instead.
Flatpak
To install Steam working on Flatpak, you must first install and enable the Flatpak runtime on your computer. You can enable this runtime by following the guide on the subject.
After setting up the Flatpak runtime on your computer, you can get the latest release of Steam working with the two commands below.
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
flatpak install flathub com.valvesoftware.Steam
With the Steam app up and running, open up the app. Then, log into your account and follow the step-by-step instructions to get Subnautica: Below Zero working.
Step 1: Open up the “Steam” menu inside of the Steam app. Click on the “Settings” button to access the Steam settings area. Once inside the Steam settings area, click on the “Steam Play” button to access the Steam Play section.
Inside of the Steam Play section, check both boxes to enable Proton/Steam Play support on your Linux computer. Finally, select the “OK” button to confirm your choice.
Step 2: Find the “Store” button and select it to access the Steam store. Once on the store, click on the search box and select it with the mouse. Type in “Subnautica: Below Zero” and press the Enter key to view the search results.
Look through the Steam store search results for “Subnautica: Below Zero,” and select it to go to the game’s Steam store page. On the Subnautica: Below Zero Steam store page, find the green “Add to cart” button and click on it to add the game to your Steam cart.
Step 3: Once Subnautica: Below Zero is in your Steam cart, purchase the game and add it to your account. Then, select the “Library” button to access your Steam games library.
Step 4: Look through your Steam games library for “Subnautica: Below Zero” and select it with the mouse to access the game’s library page. Then, find the blue “INSTALL” button and click on it to download and install the game to your computer.
Step 5: With the game downloaded and set up on your computer, the blue “INSTALL” button will become a green “PLAY” button. Select this button to start up Subnautica: Below Zero on your computer.
