How to Play FFXIV on Linux (2025 Guide)

If you are looking for a complete but short guide for Final Fantasy XIV on Linux, you found it!

I will show you how to install FFXIV on Debian and Ubuntu using mostly only Wine and an alternative for Steam Deck, Arch Linux and other distros.

What's the best way to install FFXIV on Linux?

There are many ways to setup FFXIV on Linux, and most of them involve using XIVLauncher.

XIVLauncher is an unnoficial launcher for FFXIV, it's cross platform, and an alternative to the official launcher which has issues on Linux.

In this guide I will show you different ways to go about that, all of them usign XIVLauncher.

The first one is a more barebones setup, I'll show you a script which you can modify, it installs Wine and runs the Windows version of XIVLauncher, this allows for a simple unsandboxed install on Ubuntu and Debian.

The second method is easier, if you are new around here, just scroll down to the section about installing FFXIV using Flatpak.

The Flatpak method is a Flatpak which will handle everything for you, it includes a managed Wine env controlled by XIVLauncher.

The third method allows you to skip the Flatpak on certain systems.

So here's a TLDR:

•If you are new around here, scroll down to "Easy FFXIV installation on Linux with Flatpak".
•If you are experimenting with custom installations, follow the section below, named "Installing FFXIV with Wine".
•If you have a supported environment and have a need to not use Flatpak, scroll down to the section "FFXIV on Linux from System Packages".

Installing FFXIV with Wine

This method is for Debian and Ubuntu and it will allow you to install FFXIV without Flatpak.

Create a script called install-ffxiv.sh anywhere on your system. Paste the content below on the file you created.

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -e

##############################
#        COLOR UTILS         #
##############################
RED="\033[1;31m"
GREEN="\033[1;32m"
YELLOW="\033[1;33m"
BLUE="\033[1;34m"
RESET="\033[0m"

##############################
#        PRINT HELPERS       #
##############################
info()    { echo -e "${BLUE}[INFO]${RESET} $*"; }
warn()    { echo -e "${YELLOW}[WARN]${RESET} $*"; }
error()   { echo -e "${RED}[ERROR]${RESET} $*" >&2; exit 1; }
success() { echo -e "${GREEN}[OK]${RESET} $*"; }

##############################
#      DEBIAN CHECK          #
##############################
if ! command -v apt &>/dev/null; then
    error "This script supports only Debian/Ubuntu-based distributions."
fi

info "Detected Debian-based system ✅"

##############################
#      INSTALL PLAN          #
##############################
echo -e "${YELLOW}This script will:${RESET}"
echo "  • Set up a Wine prefix for FFXIV"
echo "  • Optionally install or update WineHQ"
echo "  • Optionally link an existing FFXIV install"
echo "  • Install corefonts and XIVLauncher under Wine"
echo

##############################
#         SETUP WINE         #
##############################
read -r -p "Enter path for your Wine prefix [default: ~/ffxivwine]: " WINEPREFIX_PATH
WINEPREFIX_PATH=${WINEPREFIX_PATH:-~/ffxivwine}
WINEPREFIX_PATH=$(eval echo "$WINEPREFIX_PATH")

if [ -d "$WINEPREFIX_PATH" ]; then
    warn "Prefix already exists at: $WINEPREFIX_PATH"
    read -r -p "Continue using it anyway? (y/N): " CONT
    [[ "${CONT,,}" != "y" ]] && error "Cancelled by user."
else
    mkdir -p "$WINEPREFIX_PATH"
    success "Created prefix directory: $WINEPREFIX_PATH"
fi

export WINEPREFIX="$WINEPREFIX_PATH"
export WINEARCH=win64

##############################
#     ASK FOR GAME PATH      #
##############################
read -r -p "Do you already have FFXIV installed somewhere? (y/N): " HAS_GAME
if [[ "${HAS_GAME,,}" == "y" ]]; then
    read -r -p "Enter the path to your existing game folder: " GAME_PATH
    GAME_PATH=$(eval echo "$GAME_PATH")
    if [ ! -d "$GAME_PATH/game" ]; then
        error "Invalid path: no 'game' folder found inside $GAME_PATH."
    fi
    success "Existing FFXIV install found at: $GAME_PATH"
else
    info "A fresh install will be performed later."
fi

##############################
#   WINEHQ INSTALL PROMPT    #
##############################
read -r -p "Update/install official WineHQ Wine? (Y/n): " UPDATE_WINE
UPDATE_WINE=${UPDATE_WINE:-Y}

if [[ "${UPDATE_WINE,,}" == "y" ]]; then
    info "Updating Wine to the official WineHQ version..."
    
    # Add 32-bit architecture
    sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
    
    # Create keyrings directory
    sudo mkdir -pm755 /etc/apt/keyrings
    
    # Download and add WineHQ key
    wget -O - https://dl.winehq.org/wine-builds/winehq.key | \
        sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/winehq-archive.key || \
        error "Failed to download WineHQ key"
    
    # Update and install
    sudo apt update || error "Failed to update package lists"
    sudo apt install -y --install-recommends winehq-staging || error "Failed to install WineHQ"
    
    success "WineHQ (staging) installed successfully."
fi

# Verify Wine is available
if ! command -v wine &>/dev/null; then
    error "Wine is not installed. Please install Wine before continuing."
fi

##############################
#   STEAM ACCOUNT CHECK      #
##############################
read -r -p "Is your FFXIV account linked to Steam? (y/N): " IS_STEAM

##############################
#   WINE PREFIX INIT         #
##############################
info "Initializing Wine prefix (this may take a moment)..."
wineboot --init || error "Failed to initialize Wine prefix"

# Install winetricks if not present
if ! command -v winetricks &>/dev/null; then
    info "Installing winetricks..."
    sudo apt install -y winetricks || error "Failed to install winetricks"
fi

info "Installing required Windows components (this will take several minutes)..."
winetricks --force -q corefonts dxvk d3dcompiler_47 vcrun2019 gdiplus \
    xinput dotnet40 dotnet48 vcrun2022 vcrun6 d3dx11_43 \
    fontsmooth=rgb || error "Failed to install Wine dependencies"

success "Wine prefix has been set up."

##############################
# Steam install
##############################
if [[ "${IS_STEAM,,}" == "y" ]]; then
    info "Downloading Steam installer..."
    mkdir -p "$WINEPREFIX/drive_c/steam"
    cd "$WINEPREFIX/drive_c/steam"
    
    wget -O SteamSetup.exe "https://cdn.fastly.steamstatic.com/client/installer/SteamSetup.exe" || \
        error "Failed to download Steam installer"
    
    info "Steam installer downloaded to: $WINEPREFIX/drive_c/steam/SteamSetup.exe"
    info "You can install it later with:"
    echo "  wine \"$WINEPREFIX/drive_c/steam/SteamSetup.exe\""
else
    info "Skipping Steam installation."
fi

##############################
#   XIVLAUNCHER INSTALL      #
##############################
info "Downloading XIVLauncher..."
mkdir -p "$WINEPREFIX/drive_c/XIVLauncher"
cd "$WINEPREFIX/drive_c/XIVLauncher"

wget -O XIVLauncherSetup.exe \
    "https://github.com/goatcorp/FFXIVQuickLauncher/releases/latest/download/Setup.exe" || \
    error "Failed to download XIVLauncher"

success "XIVLauncher downloaded successfully."

info "Installing XIVLauncher..."
wine XIVLauncherSetup.exe || warn "XIVLauncher installer may require manual interaction"

##############################
#      SAVE CONFIG           #
##############################
CONFIG_FILE="$HOME/.ffxiv_wine_config"
echo "export WINEPREFIX=\"$WINEPREFIX_PATH\"" > "$CONFIG_FILE"
echo "export WINEARCH=win64" >> "$CONFIG_FILE"
success "Configuration saved to: $CONFIG_FILE"

##############################
#      FINAL SUMMARY         #
##############################
success "Setup complete! 🎉"
echo
echo -e "${YELLOW}━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━${RESET}"
echo -e "${GREEN}Next Steps:${RESET}"
echo -e "${YELLOW}━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━${RESET}"
echo

if [[ "${IS_STEAM,,}" == "y" ]]; then
    echo -e "${BLUE}For Steam users:${RESET}"
    echo "1. Install Steam (if not done automatically):"
    echo "   wine \"$WINEPREFIX/drive_c/steam/SteamSetup.exe\""
    echo
    echo "2. Launch Steam and install FFXIV through it"
    echo
fi

echo -e "${BLUE}To launch XIVLauncher:${RESET}"
echo "  source $CONFIG_FILE"
echo "  wine \"\$WINEPREFIX/drive_c/users/\$USER/AppData/Local/XIVLauncher/XIVLauncher.exe\""
echo
echo "Or create an alias in your ~/.bashrc:"
echo "  alias ffxiv='WINEPREFIX=\"$WINEPREFIX_PATH\" wine \"\$WINEPREFIX/drive_c/users/\$USER/AppData/Local/XIVLauncher/XIVLauncher.exe\"'"
echo
echo -e "${YELLOW}Tip:${RESET} For better performance monitoring, set: export DXVK_HUD=fps"
echo

After pasting it on a file, run the command chmod +x on that file. Now you can run the script by simply typing ./install-ffxiv.sh, and let the script guide you!

The script is for Debian and Ubuntu, but it can be adapted for other distros. It will install Wine from WineHQ, Winetricks, create a new Wine prefix wherever you want it, and install Steam (if required).

Easy FFXIV installation on Linux with Flatpak

There is a unofficial flatpak for FFXIV on Linux. You can obtain it here https://flathub.org/en/apps/dev.goats.xivlauncher.

If you are on Debian/Ubuntu, you can follow the steps bellow:

•sudo apt install flatpak
•flatpak install flathub dev.goats.xivlauncher

To run the game simply use flatpak run dev.goats.xivlauncher.

If you are on Arch Linux, use sudo pacman -S flatpak to install flatpak, and the other commands remain the same.

FFXIV on Linux from System Packages

For some specific distros, you can directly install the XIV Launcher without needing a Flatpak.

You can check the supported distros here: https://github.com/goatcorp/XIVLauncher.Core?tab=readme-ov-file#distribution.

At the moment of this writing, we have AUR packages, MPR, PPA, AppImage and many others.

FAQ and Resources

•Do I need to run Steam? How will I do that?

First of all, it depends if you play FFXIV on Steam. If your account is not linked with Steam, you do not need it.

If you are using Flatpak, you can install Steam without using Wine, simply install Steam for your system, and you may already have it.

If you are running with Wine, the Wine prefix will need to have Steam installed.

•My mouse gets out of the game window

Press ESC in-game, select System Configuration, go to Mouse Settings and check "Limit mouse operation to game window".

•Will I get banned for playing FFXIV on Linux?

This is a common question, and the answer is complicated. The short answer is that a lot of people do it, and the devs are more concerned with issues like RMT and botting than Linux users, and since the Steam Deck has normalized Linux gaming recently, it should be generally safe.