Epic Games has confirmed that its new Linux launcher will officially support SteamOS, the system that runs on Valve’s Steam Deck. The company says it wants the launcher to work on as many Linux distributions as it can.
The confirmation came in a reply to a question about why the AppImage had been dropped in favour of Debian and Ubuntu downloads. It was given by Jake Jones, Epic’s communications director, who named SteamOS alongside Fedora, Cachy and Omarchy. He said Epic plans to support “as many Linux distributions as possible” and is still testing packaging formats and will bring back the AppImage download this month.
The launcher is still in a preview. It first shipped as an AppImage, which Epic later swapped for a .deb file for Debian and Ubuntu, so downloads may change again until Epic settles on a format. Epic’s own FAQ lists Fedora as coming soon. On a Steam Deck, an app like this would be installed from Desktop Mode.
The bigger question for many players is Fortnite. In October Epic said it was “investigating” making the game work on SteamOS. The obstacle is anti-cheat: Epic has said the Steam Deck does not support the features its Easy Anti-Cheat v2 solution needs, and that it is talking with Valve about it. Jones’s reply does not mention Fortnite, so the launcher’s arrival on SteamOS does not mean the game is coming.
Epic is not the only store coming to Linux: a Linux version of the GOG Galaxy launcher has also been confirmed, so a Steam Deck owner could eventually have several store clients without leaving SteamOS. Both launchers are still early.
Epic has not given a date for a finished launcher or for leaving the preview.
