How to play Prey (2017) on Linux
Prey is a first-person shooter developed by Arkane Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It takes place in an alternate timeline in the Space Race where human-kind progresses to space travel much quicker than in real life. In the game, the player controls Morgan Yu, aboard a space station as he fights off hostile aliens.
Prey was released in 2017 on PS4, Xbox One and Windows 10 to critical acclaim. Despite its many awards, the game never made it to Linux. However, it can run on the Linux platform, thanks to Proton. In this guide, we’ll show you how to set it up.
Setting up Prey (2017)
Getting Prey (2017) working on Linux is an easy process thanks to the hard work of the Proton and Steam Play teams. To set this game up on your computer, follow the step-by-step instructions outlined below.
Step 1: To play Prey (2017) on Linux, you will need to install the Steam Linux client. To install the Steam Linux client, open up a terminal window by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T or Ctrl + Shift + T on the keyboard. Then, follow the command-line installation instructions outlined below that corresponds with the Linux OS you currently use.
Ubuntu
If you’re an Ubuntu user, installing Steam is simple. Just enter the following Apt command below in a terminal window.
sudo apt install steam
Debian
Debian Linux has a few ways to install Steam. The easiest way is to download the latest DEB package from the Steam website and use the dpkg tool to install it on the system.
wget https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/client/installer/steam.deb sudo dpkg -i steam.deb
Upon installing the Steam package on your Debian PC, you will need to correct any dependency errors that may have arisen. To do this, enter the command below.
sudo apt-get install -f
Arch Linux
Steam for Linux has long been available for Arch Linux users and can easily be installed with the following Pacman command in a terminal window.
sudo pacman -S steam
Fedora/OpenSUSE
Both OpenSUSE and Fedora Linux can run Steam. However, installing the app on these operating systems can be challenging at times. For the best results, we recommend using the Flatpak release of Steam. It’s easy to install and will work flawlessly across different versions of both Fedora and OpenSUSE Linux.
Flatpak
Did you know that you can get Steam working as a Flatpak package? It’s true! To start the installation of the Steam Flatpak, you must enable the Flatpak runtime on your Linux PC. Once you’ve enabled the Flatpak runtime on your Linux PC, enter the flatpak remote-add command below to get the Flathub app store working on your system.
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
Now that your Linux PC has the Flathub app store set up, you will be able to get the latest Steam Flatpak working with the flatpak install command below.
flatpak install flathub com.valvesoftware.Steam
Step 2: Now that the Steam Linux client is set up on your Linux PC, open up your app menu and launch Steam. When Steam is open, log into your Steam account with your username and password.
Step 3: After logging into your Steam account, locate the “Steam” menu, and click on it with the mouse. Then, select the “Settings” option to access Steam settings.
Inside of the “Settings” window, look for the “Steam Play” option, and click on it to access the Steam client’s Steam Play configuration area.
Step 4: In the Steam Play configuration area, check the box that says “Enable Steam Play for supported titles.” Then, check the box next to “Enable Steam Play for all titles.” Both of these settings must be enabled to play Prey (2017).
Click the “OK” button when done to close the window.
Step 5: Find the “STORE” button at the top of the page, and click on it to access the Steam Storefront. Then, click on the search box, and search for “Prey,” and click on the result with “May 5, 2017” next to it.
Upon clicking on “Prey” in the search results, you will be taken to its Steam Store page. From here, click on the “Add to cart” to purchase the game.
Step 6: Locate the “LIBRARY” button in Steam, and click on it to access your Steam game library. Once there, look for “Prey,” and click on it with the mouse to access its game page.
On the game page, find the blue “INSTALL” button, and click on it with the mouse. When you click on the “INSTALL” button, the game will download and set itself up on your Linux PC. Sit back and be patient!
When the game is finished installing, the blue “INSTALL” button is complete; it will turn into a green “PLAY” button. Click on “PLAY” to enjoy Prey (2017) on your Linux PC!
Troubleshooting Prey (2017)
Prey (2017) is rated as Platinum on ProtonDB. It’s excellent to see a Windows video game run so great on the Linux platform. However, not every Linux user installing Prey will have a flawless experience. If you run into problems, please check out the Prey (2017) ProtonDB page.
