How to play ARK: Survival Evolved on Linux
ARK: Survival Evolved is an action-adventure survival video game developed by Studio Wildcard. In the game, the user is placed into an open world and must use the environment to survive around other hostile players. In this guide, we’ll show you how to get it working on Linux.
ARK: Survival Evolved on Linux
ARK: Survival Evolved works perfectly well on Linux. If you want to play it, you will need to make the Windows release of ARK work through Steam.
Install Steam
To gain access to Steam, you’ll need to install the Linux version of the Steam client. To get Steam working, open up a terminal window and follow along with the installation instructions outlined below that corresponds with the operating system you currently use.
Ubuntu
On Ubuntu, the best way to get Steam working is by entering the following Apt command below in a terminal window.
sudo apt install steam
Debian
Debian Linux users do have access to the Steam app for Linux. However, in the repositories, users will need to tinker with the “non-free” software repository. A much easier way of getting Steam working on Debian is via the downloadable DEB package on Valve’s website.
To download the latest Steam DEB, make use of the following wget command. Then, after downloading the DEB package, make use of the dpkg command to install the app.
Note: if you run into any errors, be sure to run the apt-get install -f command to correct the issue.
wget https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/client/installer/steam.deb sudo dpkg -i steam.deb
Arch Linux
On Arch Linux, the Steam client is available for all Linux users via the “multilib” software repository. To install it, make use of the following Pacman command below.
sudo pacman -S steam
Fedora/OpenSUSE
On both Fedora and OpenSUSE Linux, Steam is available via an RPM installation. That said, the setup isn’t very user friendly, and we do not recommend it. Instead, you should follow the Flatpak installation instructions to get the app working.
Flatpak
If you’re not able to get Steam through your traditional package manager, do not worry! Steam is available as a Flatpak package. It is effortless to install. To start, you must enable the Flatpak runtime by following this guide.
After setting up the Flatpak runtime on your Linux PC, the next step is to add the Flathub app store on your computer. To do that, make use of the following remote-add command below.
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
After taking care of the Flathub app store, the final step in setting up Steam via Flatpak is to install it using the flatpak install command below.
flatpak install flathub com.valvesoftware.Steam
Install ARK: Survival Evolved Linux
Now that the Steam app is installed on your Linux PC open it up and log into it with your login credentials. Then, follow the step-by-step instructions outlined below to get ARK: Survival Evolved working on Linux.
Step 1: To get ARK working, start by opening up Steam and heading to the Steam Storefront. To access the Steam Storefront, locate the “STORE” button, and click on it. This button is at the very top of Steam in the menu, next to “LIBRARY.”
After you click on the “STORE” button, you will see the Steam Storefront main page. From here, find the search box, and click on it with the mouse. Inside the search box, type in “ARK: Survival Evolved” and press the Enter key to search.
Step 2: Look through the Steam search results for “ARK: Survival Evolved” and click on it with the mouse. Upon clicking on ARK in the search results, you will be brought to the ARK: Survival Evolved Steam Storefront page.
On the Steam Storefront page for ARK, locate the green “Add to cart” button and click on it. By selecting this button, you will add the game to your account’s cart. Then, click on the cart icon to check out the game and purchase it for your account.
Step 3: Upon purchasing ARK for your Steam account, make your way to your Steam library. You can do this by selecting the “LIBRARY” button at the top of the app (it is next to “STORE”).
Inside of your Steam library, search for “ARK”. It should be at the top of the list as it starts with the letter “A”. Once you’ve found the game, click on it with the mouse to access its game page.
Step 4: On ARK’s game page, locate the blue “INSTALL” button, and click on it with the mouse. By selecting this button, Steam will begin to download and install ARK: Survival Evolved to your computer. Be patient as it may take time to download.
When the game is done downloading to your Linux PC, the blue button will turn into a green “PLAY” button. Click on it to start up the game! Enjoy!
Troubleshooting
Having issues with ARK, or want to learn how to run the Windows version instead of the native one? Check out the ProtonDB page for ARK: Survival Evolved for more info!
