Install Lutris On Ubuntu 20.04 Focal Fossa Linux

Lutris is a game manager built for Linux operating systems, and it does its job incredibly well. It has thousands of games in its catalog and works with very little fuss, allowing you to install games from the cloud and keep them up to date. Most games are “one click install” titles, meaning that you shouldn’t have to worry about fiddling with extra configuration to get a Windows game working on Linux. It just works.

Lutris requires Wine in order to ensure a smooth experience. The two work really well together, and that’s because the developers of Lutris also work directly with Wine staging. Since the Lutris developers already program their installers to use the most optimal settings possible, there’s no need to fool around with Winetricks or any of the usual Wine configuration utilities.

If you’re ready to start gaming on Ubuntu 20.04 Focal Fossa, follow along as we setup Lutris and its dependencies on our system.

In this tutorial you will learn:

  • How to install Wine and dependencies
  • How to install Lutris
  • How to install a game on Lutris

Running Lutris to manage our games on Ubuntu 20.04 Focal Fossa

Running Lutris to manage our games on Ubuntu 20.04 Focal Fossa

Software Requirements and Linux Command Line Conventions
Category Requirements, Conventions or Software Version Used
System Installed Ubuntu 20.04 or upgraded Ubuntu 20.04 Focal Fossa
Software Lutris, Wine
Other Privileged access to your Linux system as root or via the sudo command.
Conventions # – requires given linux commands to be executed with root privileges either directly as a root user or by use of sudo command
$ – requires given linux commands to be executed as a regular non-privileged user

Install dependencies



We should have a couple of things on our system before installing Lutris. First, you should make sure that your system has the latest graphics drivers installed. This is especially important for running games smoothly on your computer and could save you a potential headache in the future if you’re trying to troubleshoot why a particular game isn’t running correctly on your system.

  1. The other thing we need to do is install Wine. To do that, you should first open a terminal and enable 32 bit architecture (assuming that your system is 64 bit, which it probably is):
    $ sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
    
  2. Then, download Wine’s repository key:
    $ wget -nc https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/winehq.key
    
  3. Next, add the respository key to your system:
    $ sudo apt-key add winehq.key
    
  4. Finish adding the Wine repository with this command:
    $ sudo apt-add-repository 'deb https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/ubuntu/ focal main'
    


  5. Now, you’ll be able to update apt and install the latest stable version of Wine with the following two commands:
    $ sudo apt update
    $ sudo apt install --install-recommends winehq-stable
    

Install Lutris

With the dependencies out of the way, we can move on to installing Lutris. All we need to do is add a repository from Ubuntu’s PPA, and let apt do rest of the work.

  1. Open a terminal window and add the Lutris PPA with this command:
    $ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:lutris-team/lutris
    
  2. Next, make sure you update apt first but then install Lutris as normal:
    $ sudo apt update
    $ sudo apt install lutris
    

Lutris will install, along with a bunch of Wine related packages and other stuff that Windows based games rely on to run.

Register an account or login

You can now open Lutris from Ubuntu’s application launcher. The first thing you’ll need to do when it opens up is login. If you don’t already have an account, then you’ll need to create one. Lutris uses accounts to keep track of your game installers. It also allows you to browse their website for games and link them directly to the Lutris app. Click on the upper left icon (pictured below) to login or register.

Click the person icon to login or register

Click the person icon to login or register



There’s nothing invasive here, you just need to supply a username, email, and password. After your account is created, login with your credentials.

Login to Lutris

Login to Lutris

Install games

Once you’re logged in, you can begin adding games. Head over to Lutris’ website and make sure you’re logged in. After that, you can click the ‘Games’ link to begin browsing their game library.

Click on any title you’d like, and if you scroll down just a tad, you’ll see the option to install the game.

Click install on the game you'd like to get

Click install on the game you’d like to get

Sometimes, you’ll see a few different options for installing a game. Lutris usually rates each installation method (i.e. platinum, gold, etc) based on how well it’s known to work on Linux systems. Be sure to read the accompanying instructions, as sometimes they contain tips on how to get the game running smoothly. Once you find a game you’d like to play, just click “Install.” Your browser should ask you how you’d like to open the link. Select Lutris and open the link.

Use Lutris to open up the install link

Use Lutris to open up the install link

Your selected game should then be added to your account’s library and start installing. You can expect to click through a few installation prompts as Lutris goes about installing the required dependencies and downloading the game content.

Lutris is installing Overwatch on our Ubuntu 20.04 system

Lutris is installing Overwatch on our Ubuntu 20.04 system

Eventually, Lutris gets to installing the game itself and will let you know when it’s finished. Then, you’ll see the game available for selection inside the Lutris app.



Our game is installed and ready to play

Our game is installed and ready to play

Closing Thoughts

Lutris provides a great solution for gaming on Linux because it takes a lot of the guesswork out of the equation. Sure, a lot of these titles would run fine without Lutris, but you’d likely be poking around for hours trying configure all the necessary components to get them running as smoothly as Lutris does.

Lutris is a great way to manage your games on Ubuntu 20.04 Focal Fossa because it feeds off the limitless feedback from the Linux gaming community to get these titles running how they’re intended to.

Keep in mind that Lutris comes packed with quite a few emulators, or “runners” as they’re called inside Lutris. Access them by clicking the cog icon next to “Runners” on Lutris app’s interface. It’s also worth noting that Lutris integrates with Steam games and Battle.net games, and even ordinary Linux desktop games. You can connect Lutris to your other game libraries through the menus (click the plus sign in the upper left corner). For any other titles, just browse for them on the Lutris website to get them added to your app.