this post was submitted on 30 Dec 2024
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Linux Gaming
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I'm sure Valve loves the fact that more people are locked into the Steam store.
Steam is great, and there's workarounds for using other installed games/stores, but... kinda feels bad that this stuff is so integrated into the Valve/Steam experience.
Don't get me wrong, I use my steam deck... a lot... and I buy most of my games on Steam... I just wish GOG and Epic integration was a little more integrated, just so I don't feel so locked in to one company. (yes, I'm aware of heroic launcher, and other options, but they're still just hacked on extra steps that don't always work)
There's nothing stopping epic or GOG from distributing a flatpak for their experiences/stores, the question is where are they?
Heroic Games Launcher and Lutris both have Epic and GOG integration.
While I would love to have an official GOG Launcher on Linux, it would probably not work as well as Heroic’s integration.
I'm aware, I just like to gently remind people that the stores they want to shop from, seemingly don't want their money. I view the deck as a kind of linux trojan horse for gaming, SteamOS on more devices could at least convince GOG that linux is worth supporting.
Epic has an axe to grind and I expect nothing from them.
Why? I claim them all the time on my phone, and occasionally play them through Heroic. I've never installed EGS on any of my devices, but I've played a few through Steam's integration.
A free game is a free game, but I'll never buy from EGS while they're so hostile to my preferred platform: Linux. I'll occasionally buy from GOG, but honestly, their DRM-free schtick isn't nearly as valuable to me as Valve's investment in Linux.
Epic is paying the devs, FitGirl and any other form of piracy isn't.
So, they ignore Canada and refuse to support the people there. Greaaat.
Neither of the companies want to support Linux. Simple as that. Or else their launchers would work on Linux without needing third party ones. They don't see Linux user base as big enough to be worth the effort.
Thing is, unlike other vendor lockins, it's on GOG and Epic for not providing a launcher. It's super easy to install alternate launchers on the Steam Deck, it's just Epic and GOG haven't released official ones yet...
Is there a newer method? I had to install Ubisoft Connect recently and it's still somewhat tedious having to set up all the Proton settings manually.
Agreed but that's just life in Linux in general. If epic and gog don't want to do the work to have a legitimate option in Linux (makes sense given market share), we'll keep doing the best we can with the hacky options while supporting the platform that is putting in the work.
I mean, this requires buying a windows powered handheld and then loading an entire OS on it.
So I don't think people are locked to steam with it, but I'm honestly not sure.
GOG games work great with heroic because no DRM, almost as easy as steam games. Epic is a pain in the ass though because you need to be logged in to play them. They work offline for a time but every time I travel I have to reenter username, password, 2FA code and captcha. For whatever reason it just refuses to remember the device. Still Civ6 is good on deck and it was free on epic.