When it comes to table games, Linux is making great strides. The continuous development of software like Wine, Proton, and Lutris has led gamers to start thinking about Linux distributions for their gaming needs. Valve is also at the forefront of developing Linux-compatible game-related software and hardware.
Due to the rapid development of the Linux gaming industry, you can now enjoy Rocket League on your Linux desktop with minimal hassle after opening the box. Here’s how to install Rocket League and “start” your soccer journey on Linux.
1. Pick up the Rocket League on the Epic Games Store
Before you can play Rocket League on Linux, you need to have the game. Don’t worry, you don’t have to pay anything because Rocket League is free. You can claim it on the Epic Games Store and add it to your game collection without spending a dime.
To get started, go to the Rocket League Epic Games Store page and click the Get button on the right. It will prompt you to log in to your account. If you don’t already have an account, create one using the registry provided. Once signed in, follow the on-screen instructions to claim and add the game to your library.
2. Download and install heroic games launcher
Now that you own the game, it’s time to install Heroic Games Launcher, which is a third-party client for the Epic Games Launcher. On Arch Linux and its derivatives, you can install the package from the AUR:
yay -S heroic-games-launcher-bin
Debian and Ubuntu users can download the official DEB file from the GitHub Releases page and install it manually using dpkg.
Download: Heroic Games Launcher
Enter the following command to install the DEB package:
sudo dpkg -i ~/Downloads/heroic_*.deb
There’s also an AppImage file on the GitHub Releases page. If you prefer AppImages over other distro-agnostic packaging formats, you can choose to download that instead. All you need to do is grant execute permissions to the downloaded file using the chmod command and launch the app by double-clicking the file.
Issue the following command to download Heroic using Flatpak:
flatpak install flathub com.heroicgameslauncher.hgl
3: Download Rocket League on Linux
Start Heroic by accessing it from the application menu or by entering heroic in the terminal. Once launched, you’ll find an option to sign in with your Epic Games account. Click the “Sign In” button and enter your account credentials to continue.
Once you’re signed in, click on the library option in the left sidebar to see all the games you own. Select Rocket League from the list of games (or search for it) and click the Install button to continue. You can choose to continue using the default settings or change the path to the game files and Wine. Click Install when you’re done.
Heroic Games Launcher will now start downloading games for you. This may take some time, depending on your network speed.
While the game is downloaded, you can set up Wine by clicking on the Wine Manager option located at the bottom left of the window. The recommended route is to download the latest packages for all three available compatible layers. Wine-GE, Wine-Lutris, and Proton-GE. If the game has problems with the default Wine configuration, this will save you some time.
To do this, click on the download icon next to the latest version of Wine. Then you can switch to the next tab (i.e. Wine-Lutris) and do the same.
Once the Rocket League download is complete, click the Play Now button to launch the game. You may see a prompt asking you to install Wine Mono and set up some configuration, but most of it is automatic and you don’t need to do much except click Install.
Typically, rocket leagues should work well without any manual configuration. But if this is not the case, you can click On Settings to go to the configuration page. There, under the Wine Version tab, select another version of Wine.
Heroic Games Launcher automatically saves changes, and you can run the game again by tapping Play Now.
If you’re from Windows and don’t feel that the Rocket League gaming experience on Linux is seamless, you can always adjust the in-game settings such as resolution, maximum frame rate, texture quality, etc. to get the highest possible frame rate on your machine.
Rocket League’s ProtonDB Rankings
The Rocket League’s ProtonDB ranking is currently Platinum, which means the game is completely out of the box. By making a few small tweaks, you can definitely improve the gaming experience, but more often than not, the game will work, even if native Linux doesn’t support it.
Players have reported issues such as a sudden drop in FPS and too-small text in the game, but none of these issues are enough to affect the playability of the game.
Platinum is the highest ProtonDB ranking for non-native PC games, followed by Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Borked. Some titles including CS: GO, Payday 2, and DOTA 2 have the Native ranking, which is inarguably the best as it denotes native support for Linux offered by the game developers.
You can now play Rocket League on your Linux desktop
Games on Linux have reached new heights that seemed impossible a few years ago. Wine and Valve are committed to bringing the best gaming experience to the Linux desktop, and their compatible layer software, namely Wine and Proton.
The community is also doing a lot of work to write and develop drivers for game controllers and related hardware. With all of these forces combined, you can expect to see some major advances in the Linux gaming world in the coming years.
