How to Install Dota 2 on Ubuntu

The most famous strategy game of the decade – DOTA 2

Dota 2 is one of the most popular free-to-play games that are available on Steam. The wide selection of characters referred to as “Heroes” combined with various spells and abilities ensures that every game in this MOBA is different from the rest.

The beta version of Dota 2 was released on the 9th of July, 2013. Since then, its player base has only seen an increase every year. This is because Dota 2 offers a competitive esports environment like no other game.

Dota 2 was the first game to have a tournament where the prize pool was more than 1 million USD. This was an astronomical amount for the players at that time. The tournaments only got bigger and more luxurious every year, with the prize pools reaching as high as 25 million USD.

Despite having existed for more than eight years, Dota 2 continues to thrive and refuses to show signs of slowing down anytime soon.

Where to download Dota 2 from?

Since Dota 2 was developed and published by Valve Corporation, it is available on Steam. Anyone who’s been into PC gaming is probably aware of Steam. For those who don’t know, Steam is a digital platform where you can buy games and software.

There is no competitor to Steam regarding its sheer dominance in the market. From providing a stable place to play online games with your friends or finding those classic retro titles, Steam definitely has it all and is not shy to show it off.

Checking System Requirements

Checking the system requirements for a game is crucial as they ensure that a game/software can run on your system without any problems.

Dota 2 is very lenient when it comes to hardware requirements. The game has been optimized in such a way that it ensures you’ll get 60+ fps(frames per second) even on the oldest of systems.

Dota 2 is available on different operating systems. This includes Ubuntu as well. With the release of Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, the Steam client is available for download via the Terminal or the Ubuntu Software Center.

For this guide, you will be installing Dota 2 on your system with the help of the Steam client. Follow the steps below to ensure a seamless installation.

Step 1: Installing Steam

The first step is to install Steam on your system. This can be achieved either with the help of the Command Terminal or the Ubuntu Software Center.

For the first method, start by opening the Command Terminal. The shortcut to open the Terminal is Ctrl + Alt + T.

Once the Terminal opens, type the following command:

This will proceed to install Steam on your system.

If you feel that the first method is complicated and want a more graphical approach, you can use the Ubuntu Software Center.

First, open the Software Center and search for Steam in the search bar. Click on the first result. Once it opens, click on the “Install” button and let Ubuntu take care of the rest of the installation. Once the installation is complete, you’ll be able to use Steam without any problems.

On the very first start-up of Steam, you will be greeted by an update screen. This screen makes sure that the Steam client is upgraded to the latest version.

With the update complete, Steam will prompt you with a login screen. Enter your username and password and press Enter. If you don’t have an account, click on “CREATE A NEW ACCOUNT” and make a new one.

Once you enter your credentials, Steam will verify the information you entered and take you to the main homepage upon confirmation.

Step 2: Installing Dota 2 through the Steam Client

To download Dota 2, click on the ‘STORE’ button near the top left corner of the Steam window.

You should see a search bar in the top right corner of the window. Type “Dota 2” and click on the first result. This will take you to the Dota 2 homepage on Steam.

Once you’ve navigated to the main page, you should see a ton of information about the game, such as reviews, system requirements and trailers, etc.

Click on “Play Game”, choose the preferred settings, and click on “Next >” to begin the process of installation.

The beauty of Steam is that it makes everything so easy. The download and installation process is fully automatic and doesn’t require user supervision.

You can continue to use your system while the download runs in the background.

By default, Steam pauses downloads whenever you start a game to avoid network problems during your gaming session. This is a very helpful feature as it takes away the troublesome method of pausing a download and then going into the game you are playing. It removes any unwanted lag you might feel from the downloads that are taking place.

This feature is helpful in online games and can be disabled for certain games according to user preferences. The downloads resume in the background when you’re done with your gaming session.

Once the download is complete, you are all set to play it on your Ubuntu system. Enjoy an uninterrupted and smooth gaming experience by following the aforementioned method.

Tips for Dota 2

Dota 2 is a MOBA that requires extensive knowledge of heroes and abilities. Although the core gameplay is simple and easy to understand, competition requires intensive knowledge about character abilities, team synergy, lane control, etc.

It should be noted that Dota 2 is a team sport, and there is no “I” in the team, so learning to play around your team or playing with a group of friends will be beneficial when it comes to ranking up.

Here are some screenshots from the game. Enjoy!

Conclusion

We hope this guide helped you learn how to install Dota 2 on Ubuntu. We covered the methods to install Steam, going over the steps for both the CLI and GUI methods. We then learned how to install Dota 2 through the Steam client. With this, we hope that you have a great time playing the best MOBA in the PC world.