How To Install And Use Epic Games On Steam Deck
Because the steam deckIn general, since the desktop operating system is based on Linux, you cannot play certain games that are heavily supported by Windows or whose anti-cheat systems are incompatible. Most non-Steam games are not compatible with Linux, but there are ways around this. What about Epic Games and other launchers?
Instead of installing Windows 10 on your Steam Deck to access your Epic Games collection, you can install it either through the Heroic Launcher or the regular desktop way. Regardless of the method, you need to flip some files in order to launch games from Epic. Continue reading!
Switch to desktop mode
- steam button
- Switch to desktop
First, switch to desktop mode. Press the Steam button and scroll down to the Power menu, then select “Switch to desktop”. In desktop mode Make sure the Steam desktop application is running in the background. Without them, you won’t be able to use the Steam keyboard or use the other non-desktop keys to play games.
Look for Heroic Games Launcher
- Open the Steam Deck start menu
- Open the Discover app
- Search for Heroic Games Launcher
The easiest and least tedious way to use Epic Games on Steam Deck is to install Heroic Games Launcher. This is a launcher that includes both Epic Games and GOG applications for easy access and download.
All you have to do is Press the Steam Deck icon on the bottom left of the desktop and open the Discover app (essentially the App Store)and then search for Heroic Games Launchers. Install it and move on.
Login to Heroic epic games
- Start Heroic Games Launcher and login
- Open Steam in desktop mode and add a non-Steam game
- Select Wine version in Heroic Games Launcher
- Play your games!
Once the Heroic Games Launcher is installed, open it. You will be prompted to sign in to Epic Games.
You then need to open the Steam application in desktop mode and add the Heroic Games Launcher to your library as a non-Steam game. Hover over Games and select Add Non-Steam Game. Locate or search for Heroic Games Launcher in the list that appears. Adding this to your Steam library will allow you to do so Open your Epic Games in game modeinstead of having to open desktop mode and launch Heroic manually.
If you open Heroic Games Launcher from your library and try to start a game, it can’t work. It states that Wine was not found or an acceptable version is needed. While Heroic should automatically pick the best version for each game, sometimes you need to tweak the settings.
To do this, hover over the game’s map in the Heroic Library and select the gear icon to bring up that game’s settings. On the Wine tab, you will see the Wine Version drop-down menu. There are several different Proton versions to choose from, e.g. B. Proton-Experimental, Proton 7.0 and Proton-GE. Try changing this to a different version and see if the game works.
You can install other versions of Proton in the Wine Manager section of the Heroic Games Launcher. You can check the game on ProtonDB to see what’s compatible and usually stick to the latest versions to be more secure.
Keep in mind that some games require more complex workarounds to launch, and others just won’t work no matter what settings you try.
Once you have the correct version of Proton installed, you should be able to launch Steam’s Heroic Games Launcher and access your games.
Alternatively, you can install Epic Games manually
- Download EpicInstaller and add it as a non-Steam game
This is the alternative, more tedious way to add epic games to your library on the Steam deck. The first thing you have to do is Download the executable installer from the Epic Games website. Then you want Open the Steam application in desktop mode.
Once in Steam, like you would on PC, hover over it games and then Add non-Steam game to the library. You may not see Epic Games in the list of applications that Steam has included Press Browse at the bottom of this window and go to the folder where you installed the EpicInstaller file. Select it and add it to your Steam library.
Note: If you cannot find certain files, they may be hidden. Click on the three lines at the top right of your Dolphin file manager. Select Show hidden files from the drop-down menu. The keyboard shortcut to show hidden files is CTRL+H.
Browse the Epic Games files
- Locate the EpicGamesLauncher.exe file
- Paste it into the Target section of the shortcut properties
- Paste it into the Start in section and remove the end part
- enforce compatibility
Once the EpicInstaller is in your Steam library, right click on it and go to Characteristics. You need to Correct the target and boot file locationsas well as adjust compatibilityto successfully start Epic Games here.
Go to first shortcut. The target file location may be filled in automatically, but if not, find the file location manually by following this path:
- Home/.local/share/Steam/steamapps/compatdata
Now comes the hard part. In this file location you will find a lot of folders with different numbers. You can go through them all until you find Epic Games, but The best way to find out which folder you need is to select the folder with the highest or longest number.
From here you have to follow this path:
- /pfx/drive_c/ProgramFiles(x86)/EpicGames/Launcher/Portal/Binaries/Win32.
At the end of this path you will see a series of files. Look for the EpicGamesLauncher.exe. Once you find it, right click on it and select Copy location. Go back to Steam and back to EpicInstaller properties and shortcuts. Paste the Epic Games Launcher path into the target area.
The next few steps are simple and spell the end of this lengthy installation process. Copy and paste the same path into the starts in Section. Here, Remove the end of the path that says “EpicGamesLauncher.exe”.
Then go inside compatibility on the left side of the window and “Force use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool“. You can also use the drop down area below to select different Proton versions. Selecting different versions will reduce crashes and errors depending on which one works for you.
Now you are done, enjoy your epic games!