W3Champions, the competitive ladder and matchmaking platform for Warcraft III, is now working on Linux! This guide will walk you through installing and running it on your system.
Connected W3Champions launcher.
Offline Warcraft III instance.
Ingame launcher.
Ingame client.
Postgame stats.
Postgame lobby.
Watching replays works.
Observing FLO games works.
| Runner | Compatibility |
|---|---|
| Proton-GE | ✅ Supported |
| wine-staging | ✅ Supported |
| Other | ❌ Not Confirmed |
Before installing W3Champions, ensure you have the following:
- A valid Warcraft III: Reforged installation (through Battle.net).
- Proton-GE (Latest, at least 9-26) installed, or wine-staging (latest).
- Lutris for managing the installation.
- A Vulkan-capable GPU.
- The latest Mesa drivers installed.
- Follow Lutris' instructions for setting up drivers and Wine dependencies on Arch Linux.
Note
This guide will focus on Arch Linux, since it has yielded the most success so far.
Other distributions work as well, just check for your distributions package manager how to install the required packages.
First, enable multilib (32-bit support).
To enable the multilib repository, uncomment the [multilib] section in /etc/pacman.conf:
/etc/pacman.conf
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[multilib]
Include = /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
Then upgrade the system:
sudo pacman -Syu
To install support for the Vulkan API and 32-bit games, execute the following command:
sudo pacman -S --needed lib32-mesa vulkan-radeon lib32-vulkan-radeon \
vulkan-icd-loader lib32-vulkan-icd-loader
This may not be necessary, but we recommend to install wine according to the lutris documentation anyway.
sudo pacman -S wine-staging
Execute the following to install required dependencies:
sudo pacman -S --needed --asdeps giflib lib32-giflib gnutls lib32-gnutls \
v4l-utils lib32-v4l-utils libpulse lib32-libpulse alsa-plugins lib32-alsa-plugins \
alsa-lib lib32-alsa-lib sqlite lib32-sqlite libxcomposite lib32-libxcomposite \
ocl-icd lib32-ocl-icd libva lib32-libva gtk3 lib32-gtk3 gst-plugins-base-libs \
lib32-gst-plugins-base-libs vulkan-icd-loader lib32-vulkan-icd-loader \
sdl2-compat lib32-sdl2-compat
Note: This may seem like a lot of libraries, but they are essential for ensuring game compatibility.
If you use a different distribution and can make it work, please reach out!
To manage Proton and more, we recommend ProtonPlus
yay -S protonplus
Then run ProtonPlus and install the Latest available Proton-GE. You do not need anything else.
First install lutris.
pacman -S lutris
Caution
Make sure to download the latest lutris release form here if you run into any issues You might have problems running the latest Proton-GE if you run an outdated version of lutris
Then start lutris and let it download its runtime and dependencies. By default, lutris will download and use wine-ge-8-26. This version however does NOT work for W3Champions! You will not be able to install the required WebView2 runtime using that wine version.
Caution
After lutris downloaded wine-ge-8-26, it will set that wine version as the default runner for all wine builds.
Make sure that, after that downloaded, you change the runner from wine-ge-8-26 back to Proton-GE (Latest)!
Forgetting to do so may require starting the whole installation process from scratch in a fresh wine prefix.
In lutris, select the Wine runner on the left side.
Then change the runner to Proton-GE (Latest)
You do not have to change any other runner options and can leave the default values.
You do however have to edit the system options.
Select the system options, toggle the Advanced switch, scroll down and add an environment variable.
Caution
It might be required to add the environment variable WINE_SIMULATE_WRITECOPY=1 to run Battle.net with Proton-GE
Try setting this if you encounter any issues with Battle.net
The following steps are automated using the W3Champions.yaml script.
The script may work, however it tends to get stuck waiting for lingering processes to finish.
For that reason, I will demonstrate the manual method.
First, we create a simple lutris game, without any configuration yet.
Press the plus button in the upper left corner, then select Add locally installed game.
Set any name for the game, we will use W3Champions. Select the wine runner for the game.
Then in the game options, select the wineprefix. We will use ~/Games/W3Champions.
And click Save.
It should create the game as follows.
First, we install the WebView2 runtime.
Important
Very recent versions of WebView2 will still render a blackscreen. Currently, only version 1.09 is supported and confirmed to be working with W3Champions. The runtime installer can be downloaded from this repositories release page here. Alternatively, download it from archive.org
You can also download the installer using curl.
curl -L "https://github.com/clemenscodes/W3ChampionsOnLinux/releases/download/proton-ge-9-27/MicrosoftEdgeWebView2RuntimeInstallerX64.exe" --output "$HOME/Downloads/MicrosoftEdgeWebView2RuntimeInstallerX64.exe"
Before actually running the installer, make sure that no previous wine or proton process is still lingering. That would likely cause issues where the runner wouldnt start at all. Especially with proton you have to use the PROTON_VERB=run environment variable to have multiple proton processes running at the same time. You can kill the running processes by executing the following commands.
for proc in lutris main Warcraft wine Microsoft edge srt-bwrap exe Cr mDNS; do
pkill "$proc" || true
doneBefore running any executables in that prefix, also before each of the following steps, you should always make sure that the potentially lingering processes are killed.
Then, left-clicking on the game in lutris once, we can select to run an EXE inside that prefix.
Select the recently downloaded WebView2 runtime installer.
It may take a minute until the WebView2 installer opens up. It will download the runtime and then install. No interaction is required for this step. If the installer closes without any popup or feedback, then it installed successfully. Congrats! If not, and an error like 0x8003007 appears, then something in the previous steps was not done correctly and you would have to start over.
Important
You have to set the msedgewebview2.exe to Windows 7.
If you do not do this, all windows running with WebView2 will be just black and unusable.
Select the game, and click on the Wine configuration option. It will open winecfg.
In there, look for msedgewebview2.exe. It will be set to Windows 8.1 by default. This will render all windows black.
Set the version to Windows 7.
Click Apply and OK.
Next, installing Battle.net which can be downloaded here.
Alternatively, using curl
curl -L "https://downloader.battle.net/download/getInstaller?os=win&installer=Battle.net-Setup.exe" --output "$HOME/Downloads/Battle.net-Setup.exe"
Run this exe inside the prefix. This will be a standard Battle.net install. After installation, login with your Battle.net ID and download Warcraft III: Reforged. Once Warcraft III was downloaded, start it up. The lion gate should open and the Blizzard Browser should render properly. If this is not the case, you may have not the correct Vulkan drivers or GPU drivers installed, or your GPU is incompatible. Adjust your preferred settings and make sure the reforged mode is deactivated. Close the game and exit Battle.net after confirming Warcraft III works.
We can install W3Champions now from here.
Alternatively, using curl
curl -L "https://update-service.w3champions.com/api/launcher-e" --output "$HOME/Downloads/W3Champions_latest_x64_en-US.msi"
Run this exe inside the prefix. Do not yet launch W3Champions after the installation finishes.
Then, you can configure the lutris game once again.
Select the executable to be $HOME/Games/W3Champions/drive_c/Program Files/W3Champions/W3Champions.exe and Save.
You can now double click the W3Champions game in lutris and sign in next. This step breaks most of the times. We still don't quite understand what exactly makes it break or succeed. Pressing Sign In will likely cause the launcher to crash. However, it can work. Starting the launcher, then starting Battle.net, then resetting the Battle.net state can help. Pressing Sign In may render the Blizzard Auth UI. Sometimes just trying a few times also works. Rebooting and then running W3Champions first also sometimes helps. If it simply won't work even after a few tries, there is still a method to Sign In, however it is a real PITA.
To bypass the Sign In, we have to make W3Champions think that we already signed in. We can do that by, well, signing in. Just not linux, but on... Windows 🤐.
Fortunately, a virtual machine will be sufficient. Get into a running Windows system, download and launch W3Champions and sign in.
That will write the information needed for W3Champions to verify you signed in into the AppData.
You can then copy the C:\users\<user>\AppData\Local\com.w3champions.client directory to a USB drive.
Then get back into linux, remove the $HOME/Games/W3Champions/drive_c/users/steamuser/AppData/Local/com.w3champions.client directory.
And then paste the copied directory from the USB stick to $HOME/Games/W3Champions/drive_c/users/steamuser/AppData/Local/com.w3champions.client.
rm -rf "$HOME/Games/W3Champions/drive_c/users/steamuser/AppData/Local/com.w3champions.client"
cp -r /mnt/com.w3champions.client "$HOME/Games/W3Champions/drive_c/users/steamuser/AppData/Local/com.w3champions.client"
Note
The path /mnt/com.w3champions.client assumes that you mounted the USB drive at /mnt and that it contains the directory there.
Adjust this to however you have to.
Important
You can now launch W3Champions, and it should actually work.
Do not interact with the launched Warcraft III window.
W3Champions will proceed to install Bonjour for the first time and join a test game on LAN in Warcraft III.
This should work without any actions. On subsequent launcher startups though, we have to restart the Bonjour Service for some reason.
To automate this, you can should write a batch file somewhere with this content and save it.
C:
start "" "C:\Program Files\W3Champions\W3Champions.exe"
net stop "Bonjour Service"
net start "Bonjour Service"Then select that file as the game executable in lutris.
This will make W3Champions pass the LAN test and you are ready to climb the ladder on linux.
If you already have an existing Warcraft III installation, you can streamline the installation to the prefix.
The warcraft-copy.sh reads the WARCRAFT_PATH environment variable
with the path of that existing installation anad copies it into the expected location in the prefix.
From the root of this repository, it can be used like this.
WARCRAFT_PATH="<your/path/to/Warcraft III>" ./scripts/warcraft-copy.shIf you have an existing W3Champions AppData folder that is authorized,
for example from a Windows VM,
you can streamline the installation of that folder using the w3c-login-bypass.sh script.
The script reads the W3C_AUTH_DATA environment variable and puts that in the expected location in the prefix.
You can use it like this.
W3C_AUTH_DATA="<your/path/to/com.w3champions.client" ./scripts/w3c-login-bypass.shIf you have some existing settings and hotkeys, you can use the warcraft-settings.sh script to install those settings in the prefix. This repository contains a German grid-hotkey layout CustomKeys.txt and a War3Preferences.txt file to configure Warcraft III using my preferred settings. You can update these files to your preferences and then run the script to install them.
./scripts/warcraft-settings.shIf you never played W3Champions before, you may have to verify your Warcraft III installation. For this, you should download the legacy launcher from the w3champions GitHub release page here, execute that executable inside the prefix. Install it, then run it. You should be able to then click play on the legacy launcher and have it start Warcraft through Battle.net and verify your Warcraft.
When the mouse disappears, switching the workspaces while moving the mouse tends to rerender the mouse on top of the W3Champions Launcher window. Preventing the window manager from decorating the Warcraft and W3Champions windows can help. As a last resort, you can use a virtual desktop in wine. In the virtual desktop the cursor will be rendered properly at all times. On Hyprland, setting the windowrules can help.
windowrule = content game,class:(steam_app_default),title:()
windowrule = content game,class:(steam_app_default),title:(Battle.net)
windowrule = content game,class:(steam_app_default),title:(W3Champions)
windowrule = content game,class:(steam_app_default),title:(Warcraft III)
windowrule = content game,class:(steam_app_0),title:()
windowrule = content game,class:(steam_app_0),title:(Battle.net)
windowrule = content game,class:(steam_app_0),title:(W3Champions)
windowrule = content game,class:(steam_app_0),title:(Warcraft III)
windowrule = content game,class:(explorer.exe),title:()
windowrule = content game,class:(battle.net.exe),title:(Battle.net)
windowrule = content game,class:(w3champions.exe),title:(W3Champions)
windowrule = content game,class:(warcraft iii.exe),title:(Warcraft III)
windowrule = workspace 2,class:(steam_app_default),title:(Battle.net)
windowrule = workspace 3,class:(steam_app_default),title:()
windowrule = workspace 3,class:(steam_app_default),title:(W3Champions)
windowrule = workspace 4,class:(steam_app_default),title:(Warcraft III)
windowrule = workspace 2,class:(steam_app_0),title:(Battle.net)
windowrule = workspace 3,class:(steam_app_0),title:()
windowrule = workspace 3,class:(steam_app_0),title:(W3Champions)
windowrule = workspace 4,class:(steam_app_0),title:(Warcraft III)
windowrule = workspace 2,class:(battle.net.exe),title:(Battle.net)
windowrule = workspace 3,class:(explorer.exe),title:()
windowrule = workspace 3,class:(w3champions.exe),title:(W3Champions)
windowrule = workspace 4,class:(warcraft iii.exe),title:(Warcraft III)
windowrule = tile,class:(steam_app_default),title:(Battle.net)
windowrule = tile,class:(steam_app_default),title:(W3Champions)
windowrule = tile,class:(steam_app_default),title:(Warcraft III)
windowrule = tile,class:(steam_app_0),title:(Battle.net)
windowrule = tile,class:(steam_app_0),title:(W3Champions)
windowrule = tile,class:(steam_app_0),title:(Warcraft III)
windowrule = tile,class:(battle.net.exe),title:(Battle.net)
windowrule = tile,class:(w3champions.exe),title:(W3Champions)
windowrule = tile,class:(warcraft iii.exe),title:(Warcraft III)
windowrule = noinitialfocus,class:(steam_app_default),title:()
windowrule = noinitialfocus,class:(steam_app_default),title:(Warcraft III)
windowrule = noinitialfocus,class:(steam_app_0),title:()
windowrule = noinitialfocus,class:(steam_app_0),title:(Warcraft III)
windowrule = noinitialfocus,class:(explorer.exe),title:()
windowrule = noinitialfocus,class:(warcraft iii.exe),title:(Warcraft III)
windowrule = move 47% 96%,class:(steam_app_default),title:()
windowrule = move 47% 96%,class:(steam_app_0),title:()
windowrule = move 47% 96%,class:(explorer.exe),title:()
windowrule = opacity 0%,class:(steam_app_default),title:()
windowrule = opacity 0%,class:(steam_app_0),title:()
windowrule = opacity 0%,class:(explorer.exe),title:()
Alternatively, running this script to restart W3Champions can make the hassle a little bit less hassle.
#!/usr/bin/env bash
notify-send "Starting W3Champions"
for proc in main Warcraft wine Microsoft srt-bwrap exe Cr mDNS; do
pkill "$proc" || true
done
LUTRIS_SKIP_INIT=1 lutris lutris:rungame/w3champions & # you can find the game name using `lutris -l`Ensure you have the environment variable PROTON_VERB=run set.
If you ever switch runners inside the wineprefix, you may have to reinstall WebView2 and reset the msedgewebview2.exe back to Windows 7.
Should the blackscreen persist, make sure to kill all lingering processes with this snippet.
for proc in lutris main Warcraft wine Microsoft srt-bwrap exe Cr mDNS; do
pkill "$proc" || true
doneHappy ladder climbing! 🎮
