How to play Phasmophobia on Linux
Phasmophobia is an indie survival horror video game released on Steam for Windows in September of 2020. In the game, the player takes control of one member of a group of ghost hunters as they hunt for ghosts. Here’s how to play it on Linux.
Phasmophobia on Linux
Phasmophobia only works on Linux with the help of Steam’s Proton tool, a compatibility program that makes Windows games work on Linux. To gain access to this tool, you must install the Steam for Linux client.
Install Steam
Installing the Steam for Linux client on Linux is relatively easy, and a majority of distributions support it. To start the installation process, open up a terminal window on the Linux desktop. Then, follow the command-line installation instructions down below that corresponds with the distribution you currently use.
Ubuntu
Need to get Steam working on your Ubuntu PC? Run the following Apt command.
sudo apt install steam
Debian
You will be able to install Steam on Debian. However, do not attempt to install it through the Debian software repos, as it can be tedious to enable the “non-free” section. A much easier way to get Steam on Debian is to download and install the Steam DEB package from the internet.
To download the latest version of Steam for Debian, make use of the following wget command below.
wget https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/client/installer/steam.deb
Now that the Steam DEB package is done downloading to your computer, it is time to install it on Debian. Using the dpkg command, install Steam for Linux.
sudo dpkg -i steam.deb
You may run into dependency issues while installing the Steam DEB package. To fix it, follow this guide.
Arch Linux
Steam is officially supported on Arch Linux in the “Multilib” software repository. To get it working on your computer, open up a terminal window and use the following Pacman command below.
sudo pacman -S steam
Fedora/OpenSUSE
If you’re using Fedora Linux or OpenSUSE Linux, it is possible to install Steam through the software repositories. However, a lot of extra configuration is required (Fedora requires a third-party repo to access Steam), so it isn’t the best way to get Steam working.
A much better way of installing Steam on Fedora and OpenSUSE is by following the Flatpak installation instructions. Best of all, Flatpak comes pre-configured on Fedora, so if you’re a Fedora user, it’s super easy to get Steam working!
Flatpak
Steam is on the Flathub app store, so if you’re running a Linux operating system that doesn’t support the Steam client, this is the best way to go. To start, you must enable the Flatpak runtime on your computer. To do that, follow this guide.
After setting up the Flatpak runtime, enter the two commands below to install the Steam client for Linux.
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
flatpak install flathub com.valvesoftware.Steam
Download & play Phasmophobia
Now that the Steam for Linux client is installed launch the Steam app by searching for it in your app menu, login, and follow the step-by-step instructions below to get Phasmophobia working.
Step 1: In Steam, look for the “Steam” menu, and click on it with the mouse. After selecting “Steam,” find the “Settings” menu, click on it to open up the Steam settings area.
Inside the settings area, find the “Steam Play” option, and click on it. Then, check “Enable Steam Play for supported titles” and “Enable Steam Play for all other titles” to turn on the compatibility tool.
Step 2: With Steam Play enabled, find the “STORE” button at the top of the page, and click on it to access the Steam Storefront. Once on the Steam Storefront, locate the search box, and click on it with the mouse.
Inside the search box, type in “Phasmophobia” and press the Enter key to view the search results. Then, look through the search results for “Phasmophobia” and click on it to go to the game’s Storefront page.
Step 3: On the Phasmophobia page, look for the green “Add to cart” button, and click on it to purchase the game. Then, select the “LIBRARY” button to go to your Steam library.
Step 4: In the Steam library, look for “Phasmophobia” and select it with the mouse. Upon selecting the game, you will see the game’s library page.
On the Phasmophobia library page, find the blue “INSTALL” button and click on it to install the game to your Linux PC. Keep in mind that the installation could be slow, depending on your connectivity.
Step 5: Find the green “PLAY” button next to Phasmophobia and select it to play the game. When you launch it, Steam will configure the game to ensure that it works on the Linux platform. If you have any issues, be sure to check the ProtonDB page.
