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Gaming

Most Windows games on Steam run on SakuraOS through Proton, which Steam includes. This page covers installing Steam, getting games to run, and what to try when one does not.

Installing Steam

  1. Open the App Store and search for Steam.

  2. Open Steam's page and press Install. The store installs it from Flathub, which brings everything Steam needs with it, including the 32-bit graphics libraries many games use.

  3. Open Steam from the application menu and sign in. The first start downloads Steam's own updates, which takes a minute or two.

Running Windows games

Steam runs Windows games through Proton. It is on for games Valve has tested. To allow it for every game, open Steam's Settings → Compatibility and turn on Enable Steam Play for all other titles.

Before buying a game, check ProtonDB, where players report how well each game runs.

When a game will not start

Try these in order:

  1. Try a different Proton version. Right-click the game, choose Properties → Compatibility, tick Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool, and pick another version. Older games often want an older Proton. This fixes more games than anything else.

  2. Look the game up on ProtonDB. Someone has usually found what works.

  3. Verify the game's files. Properties → Installed Files → Verify integrity of game files fixes a damaged download.

  4. Check whether it stopped working after an update. If it did, going back to a restore point from before the update is often quickest. See Going back.

  5. Get a log. Put PROTON_LOG=1 %command% in the game's Properties → Launch Options and start it. Proton writes a file named steam- followed by the game's number, ending in .log, to ~/.var/app/com.valvesoftware.Steam/ in your home folder. Include it when you ask for help.

Some games accept options that avoid a problem with their default graphics mode, such as -dx11 or -vulkan. Whether a game supports them, and which helps, varies; ProtonDB usually says.

Games that will not run at all

Some online games refuse to run on Linux because of their anti-cheat, by the publisher's decision. No setting on your side changes this. Are We Anti-Cheat Yet? lists which games are affected.

Controllers

Xbox and PlayStation controllers work over USB and Bluetooth. Pair a Bluetooth controller from the Bluetooth icon in the panel.

SakuraOS includes the device rules Steam uses to talk to controllers directly, including Valve's own controllers and VR headsets, so Steam can set up and remap them under Settings → Controller. If a controller works in other games but not in Steam, please report it with the controller's name.

Other stores

For GOG, Epic Games and others, install Heroic Games Launcher or Lutris from the App Store. Both use Proton or Wine in the same way Steam does.

Graphics drivers

The installer already set up the right driver for your graphics card. If you have an NVIDIA card and games are slow, check which driver you are using; see NVIDIA. On a laptop with two graphics chips, see Laptops with two GPUs.

Last checked against the SakuraOS release of 3 October 2026. If your system behaves differently from this page, the page is wrong: please report it.