How to play Halo: The Master Chief Collection on Linux
Halo: The Master Chief Collection is the first release of the Halo franchise on the PC since 2004. It’s a big deal. If you’d like to experience one of the best shooter franchises ever on Linux, you need to purchase it on Steam.
To get Halo: The Master Chief Collection on Steam for Linux, ensure that the Steam app is set up on your PC. Then, log in to the app, click “Store,” search for “Halo,” and purchase “The Master Chief Collection.” Or, click on this link here to buy it via Steam in the web browser.
Enable Steam Play
Halo: The Master Chief Collection is a Microsoft Windows video game, and Xbox Game Studios doesn’t have any plans to release it on Mac OS or Linux natively. So, for this game to work on Linux, you must enable Steam Play, which will make it possible to play the game.
Setting up Steam Play on Linux is pretty simple. To enable it, open up “Settings” in Steam. Then, find “Steam Play” and check the box next to “Enable Steam Play for all other titles.” Or, if you’re having issues setting up Steam Play on Linux, follow our in-depth guide here.
Installing custom Proton
The default version of Proton that is included with Steam Play will run the Master Chief Collection on Linux fine. However, it will not allow the user to connect to Xbox Live, which is required to play online. Instead, we must install a modified version of Proton into Steam. Follow the step-by-step instructions below.
Step 1: Open up a terminal window by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T or Ctrl + Shift + T on the keyboard.
Step 2: Using the mkdir command, create a new directory called “compatibilitytools.d/.”
Steam Linux
mkdir -p ~/.steam/root/compatibilitytools.d/
Steam Flatpak for Linux
mkdir -p ~/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/data/Steam/compatibilitytools.d/
Step 3: Download the modified Proton from Github using wget.
cd /tmp
wget https://github.com/GloriousEggroll/proton-ge-custom/releases/download/4.21-GE-1-MCC-2/Proton-4.21-GE-1.tar.gz
Step 4: Install the runtime into the directory using tar.
tar xvf Proton-4.21-GE-1.tar.gz -C ~/.steam/root/compatibilitytools.d/
Or, for Flatpak.
tar xvf Proton-4.21-GE-1.tar.gz -C ~/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/data/Steam/compatibilitytools.d/
Step 5: Go back to Steam and find the side-bar on the right. Then, right-click on Halo, and select the “Properties” button in the right-click menu.
Step 6: Inside of “Properties,” locate “Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool,” and check the box next to it.
Click the drop-down menu next to “Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool,” and select the option “Proton-4.21-GE-1”.
Step 7: Click the “Close” button to close the properties window.
Once Halo: The Master Chief Collection is using the custom version of Proton, the Xbox Live login window will work perfectly!
Installing Halo: The Master Chief Collection on Linux
Now that you’ve purchased the game via Steam and have the Steam Play runtime up and running on your Linux PC, it is time to install it. To install Halo: The Master Chief Collection on Steam via Linux, follow the step-by-step instructions below.
Step 1: Look in Steam for “Library” and click on it with the mouse to access your video game library.
Step 2: Inside of the “Library” section where your Steam games are, find “Halo: The Master Chief Collection,” and click on it with the mouse to open up the game page for it.
Step 3: Find the blue “Install” button, and click it to start the installation of Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Alternatively, right-click on it and select the “Install” button to initiate the installation process.
Step 4: Follow the on-screen prompts in Steam to set up the game on your hard drive. Once that is done, Halo: The Master Chief Collection will begin installing.
When the installation process is done, Halo: The Master Chief Collection’s blue “Install” button will turn into a green “Play” button.
Creating an Xbox Live account
Playing Halo: The Master Chief Collection on Linux requires an Xbox Live account. If you do not have an account, you must create one. To create a new account, follow the step-by-step instructions below.
Note: you do not need an Xbox Live GOLD account to play, as this game is not on Xbox.
Step 1: Head over to the official Xbox website and locate the “Create an account” button. Then, click it with the mouse. Selecting this button will take you to the new account creation page.
Step 2: In the “Create account” box, write in an email address. It does not have to be a Microsoft email address to work.
Step 3: Enter a secure password in the “Create a password” box.
Step 4: Follow the rest of the on-screen prompts to get your new Xbox Live account up and running.
Playing Halo: The Master Chief Collection
All of the difficult setup to get the game running on Linux is done. Now, if you’d like to enjoy Halo, do the following.
First, click the green “Play” button in Steam to launch The Master Chief Collection on your Linux PC. Sit back and wait a couple of minutes, as the game may take a bit to start up for the first time.
Once The Master Chief Collection is running on your Linux PC, you will see a pop-up window that says, “Let’s get you signed in.” At this point, sign in to your newly created Xbox Live account.
Upon signing into your Xbox Live account in Halo: The Master Chief Collection, everything is ready to go. From here, find “Halo: Reach” and select it (as it is the only Halo title out yet for the game) to start playing!
