How to play The Witcher 3 on Linux

Released in 2015, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has received critical acclaim, winning over 800 awards, including more than 250 game awards of the year. The Witcher 3 is available for Windows, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch, but Linux users have not had the opportunity to experience this game.

The good news is that there are several ways to get The Witcher 3 on Linux. In this article, you will learn 2 ways to play The Witcher 3 on Linux.

Note : This guide requires you to purchase The Witcher 3.

1. Install Witcher 3 with Steam Play

Steam Play is a service that allows Linux users to install and play games that were previously only available for Windows. Since The Witcher 3 was released for Windows, Steam and Steam Play can be used to run Windows versions of Wild Hunt on Linux computers.

Install Steam on Linux

If not, you'll need to set up Steam for Linux, requiring you to download the Steam Installer (Steam installer). It is available in most Software Center / Package Manager, so you can easily find and install. In Ubuntu-based distributions, you can also install using the command:

 sudo apt install steam-installer 

And follow the instructions in the article: How to install Steam in Ubuntu.

Alternatively, you can download Steam Linux packages for various distributions from pkgs.org:

Log into your Steam account

Launch Steam and log in to your account (or create an account if you haven't signed up for Steam before).

Since this is your first time logging into Steam from this computer, you will need to verify your identity. Steam will send a security code to the email address associated with the account - if you haven't received this email within a few minutes, check your spam folder!

Once you have the security code, return to the Steam window and select I've received the message> Next .

Log into your Steam account

Paste the code into Steam, and then click Next. You are now logged into your Steam account.

Access Windows games on Linux with SteamPlay

Next, you need to activate Steam Play:

1. In the top left corner of Steam, select Steam> Settings .

2. In the next window, select the game Steam Play.

3. Select the following checkbox : Enable Steam Play for Supported Titles .

Select the Enable Steam Play for Supported Titles checkbox

4. Click OK.

These changes will take effect after rebooting, so please restart the computer now.

Enjoy Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on Linux

If you haven't bought Wild Hunt yet, choose Store , find Witch 3 and buy the game. Install The Witcher 3 and you're ready to play this game on your Linux computer.

2. Use Wine and GOG.com

If you don't want to use Steam, you can buy the Windows version of The Witcher from GOG.com and then play through the Wine-compatible layer.

If you don't have Wine on a Linux computer, you can follow this guide to install Wine on Linux.

Download offline backup of GOG

Let's say you bought Witcher 3 from Gog.com, on the GOG.com toolbar, choose a username and then click Games.

Select The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Download offline backup game installers .

You need to download every component in this collection.

Download offline backup of GOG

Depending on your Internet connection, downloading all The Witcher 3 files can be very time consuming, to the point where you may even need to leave the computer running overnight!

Install Witcher 3 with Wine

Once you've downloaded all The Witcher 3 files to your computer:

1. Navigate to the computer's Downloads folder.
2. Right-click on the EXE "Setup ." file of The Witcher 3.
3. Select Open with Wine Windows Program Loader .

Select Open with Wine Windows Program Loader

After a few moments, the GOG.com installer will appear on the screen. You can follow the on-screen instructions to install The Witcher.

After that, the game will be installed. Are you ready to play The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on Linux already!