How to Install Steam on Ubuntu 18.04

Steam is a cross-platform entertainment platform developed by Valve Corporation for purchasing and playing video games. It gives you access to thousands of games and allows you to meet new people.

In this tutorial, we will show you how to install Steam on Ubuntu 18.04. The same instructions apply for Ubuntu 16.04 and any Ubuntu-based distribution, including Kubuntu, Linux Mint and Elementary OS.

Prerequisites #

You’ll need to be logged in as a user with sudo privileges to be able to install packages on your Ubuntu system.

Installing Steam on Ubuntu #

Perform the following steps to install Steam on your Ubuntu desktop:

1. Start by enabling the Multiverse repository which contains software that does not meet the Ubuntu license policy:

   Terminal

   sudo add-apt-repository multiverse

   output

   'multiverse' distribution component enabled for all sources

2. Next, install the steam package by typing:

   Terminal

   sudo apt install steam

3. Once the installation is completed you can start it either from the command line by typing steam or by clicking on the Steam icon (Activities -> Steam):

   

4. When you start Steam for the first time, it will update its self to the latest version. This can take a few minutes.

   

5. Once the update is complete, the Steam will start.

   

   From here, you can log in to your Steam account or create a new one.

Conclusion #

You have learned how to install Steam on Ubuntu 18.04. You can now start purchasing and playing video games.

To find a list of supported Linux games visit this page.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.

About the authors

Dejan Panovski

Dejan Panovski is the founder of Linuxize, an RHCSA-certified Linux system administrator and DevOps engineer based in Skopje, Macedonia. Author of 800+ Linux tutorials with 20+ years of experience turning complex Linux tasks into clear, reliable guides.

View author page