How To Run The Sims 4 On Linux
The Sims 4 itself runs great on Linux! I used Ubuntu 19.10 (Ubuntu Budgie) as the platform for this article but the steps should be roughly the same on any Linux distro.
The steps to install Origin & The Sims 4 are actually quite simple:
- Install the latest Display Drivers & Vulkan libs
- Install Lutris
- Install Origin Dependencies
- Install Origin via Lutris script
Once Lutris is finished installing Origin, you can try to launch it straight from Lutris. If it hangs or has some other issue, restart your session and try again.
When you log into Origin, you can begin downloading the Sims 4!
I also recommend disabling Origin In-Game from the Origin settings menu because it doesn’t currently work on Linux and it’s not really used for anything in the game.
Performance Tuning
The Sims 4 is an extremely well-optimized game and shouldn’t have trouble running the minimum recommended specs for Windows on Linux.
I’m able to run the Sims 4 on “Ultra” graphics settings at 1080p with my FX-8350 CPU & 1060ti GPU.
If you do run into performance issues, try tweaking with the graphics settings, particularly the game’s resolution (from 1080p to 720p, for example). Disabling Post Processing and reducing Edge Smoothing, Reflections, and the View Distance may have a noticeable impact as well.
Troubleshooting
Most issues running the Sims 4 on Linux come from Origin rather than the Sims 4 itself.
The easiest way to avoid any issues with Origin is to simply install it and then turn off automatic updates. The Sims 4 allows you to play offline so this shouldn’t be an issue.
If you are having graphics or performance-related issues, refer to the previous section about tuning performance for the Sims 4.
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