Check out our Monthly Survey Page to see what our users are running.
We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.

You can now try the RetroArch Playtest on Steam for Linux

By - | Views: 21,698

With the awesome RetroArch application for running emulators and all sorts coming to Steam, they now have a Playtest available you can opt into to try it out.

Using the new dedicated Steam Playtest feature announced by Valve in early November, developers can have a banner on their Steam store page letting users request access. So the Libretro team have put this up, and as of today it also has Linux builds available for testing.

All you have to do is go to the RetroArch Steam page, and look for this banner:

The way it's setup appears to give instant access, so you should be accepted instantly to then be able to see it switch over to saying "Play Now", which then let's it download. The Linux build on Steam is using an AppImage, so it should work nicely across most Linux distributions.

Currently it only has a limited amount of emulator cores available. At release, they will be putting up more cores as free DLC to download to access more emulators.

Pictured - RetroArch on Steam for Linux.

So far so good, everything appears to work pretty much as expected. Their Linux support has been in pretty great shape for some time now, so that's not exactly surprising. Still, having it on Steam is going to be a boon for the project as so many more people will be able to see and use it. Another great example of open source in action.


Pictured - Golden Sun running through mGBA with RetroArch.

You can try it out on Steam or simply head to the actual RetroArch site for the main downloads.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
24 Likes
About the author -
author picture
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
See more from me
The comments on this article are closed.
4 comments

omer666 Nov 23, 2020
Doesn't work for me

[Edit] Works with Steam in English, but not in French. Now Downloading!


Last edited by omer666 on 23 November 2020 at 8:14 pm UTC
Koopacabras Nov 23, 2020
great news been waiting this for a long time!
noderunner Nov 24, 2020
Because it's running in an AppImage it's incompatible with Steam in a Flatpak.
ageres Nov 24, 2020
Its config uses /usr in some places, and it even finds my installed cores. So, after tweaking video and controls settings, I got the same functionality as in regular RetroArch.
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
The comments on this article are closed.