We Need A Better Solution For Using Epic Games On Steam Deck – Forbes

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Final Fantasy VII Remake on Heroic Games Launcher (Linux)
I finally got Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade up and running on my Steam Deck thanks to this excellent guide from Gaming On Linux. But it wasn’t a remotely easy process. It involved booting into Desktop Mode and downloading 3 pieces of software from GitHub, including a bash script. A “console-like” experience this was not, and I don’t recommend it unless playing something right this minute from the Epic Games Store is a life-or-death matter. Especially since a much easier solution is coming as soon as this week.
I previously told you about Heroic, an open-source alternative launcher for the Epic Games Store on both Linux and Windows. It has full support for the Epic Games storefront, your complete library, downloads, and installation of games. It can even automatically sync your cloud saves, making it a stellar option for desktop Linux users.
The keyword there is desktop.
The developers have already started laying the foundation to use Heroic on the Steam Deck (like navigating the interface with a controller), but there’s one piece of the puzzle still missing: being able to install the app directly from “Discover,” the Deck’s built-in software store.
For that, the developers need to package and distribute the software as a “Flatpak,” which is exactly what they announced today.
Flávio Lima, Heroic Games Launcher creator, announced via Twitter that Heroic v2.2.2 is available, and lays the groundwork for a Flatpak release. Not only will this make the software more widely available for other Linux distributions, but it will make using it on the Steam Deck — specifically the “Gaming Mode” UI — much easier.
Lima expects the process to move quickly.
Heroic Games Launcher is getting a Flatpak release soon.
“The [pull request] is opened, got a few comments, and I will need to push some fixes. If everything is fine and the build passes, I believe they will approve the [pull request] and then Heroic should be in the store soon,” Lima tells me via Twitter. “Maybe by the end of the week. Let’s cross our fingers.”
In a nutshell, Flatpak is a way to distribute and easily install software on Linux, and it’s known for being “universal.” If a piece of software has a Flatpak version, and the Linux distribution supports it (and most popular ones do, right out of the box), installation is a breeze. You don’t have to worry about using the command line, installing dependencies, or even about the software making deep system-level changes to your operating system because a Flatpak plays in its own isolated software sandbox.
And it’s that last bit that matters most with Steam Deck.
Valve has — wisely, in my opinion — made a big chunk of SteamOS 3.0 “read-only,” so that users can’t accidentally break or brick their system. Flatpaks contain everything you need (like certain development libraries and other bits of code) to run an app, and they operate in a sort of bubble that doesn’t need to invade other parts of your OS. As such, Valve is embracing the idea of users installing Flatpaks for both Desktop Mode and for Gaming Mode.
This has some awesome advantages for the user, particularly when it comes to Steam Deck’s “one-click” installs in the default Steam Deck UI. Remember that painless Chrome installation I wrote about? That’s possible because it’s packaged as a Flatpak. And Valve clearly has plans to build out that functionality to include lots of other useful apps.
The Steam Deck’s Flatpak store comes with a bunch of game emulators. You can install them with one … [+] click.
But if you’re using the Deck’s Desktop Mode, you can already install a sizable variety of software through the “Discover” store. It takes literally one click to install apps like Spotify, Discord, Telegram, OBS Studio, Blender, and yes, tons of emulators like Yuzu and Dolphin.
This is why the Heroic Games Launcher developers are scrambling to make a Flatpak happen. Aside from there being significant demand from Steam Deck owners to play their Epic Games Store libraries (in a way that doesn’t involve complex workarounds), having Heroic as a Flatpak makes it easy for anyone on almost any Linux desktop to access their Epic Games library.
Much like Valve’s work on Proton benefits the entire Linux gaming ecosystem, so do projects like Heroic.
Once the Heroic Flatpak becomes available, Steam Deck users should be able to simply add it to Steam via the “Add a non-Steam game to my library” option, and then launch it from within the Gaming Mode UI.
Lima says it could be ready by the end of this week, but it does come with a slightly cautionary note. “The first Flatpak won’t be perfect though and some things might not work as expected,” he writes on Heroic’s release notes for version 2.2.2.
I’m very eager to check this out and I’ll keep you posted on my findings. In the meantime, what’s the first Epic Games Store title you’ll install on your Deck? Let me know on Twitter, and stay tuned for daily Steam Deck coverage right here at Forbes.

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