You just bought a Steam Deck. It feels great. The ergonomics are spot on, the screen is vibrant, and the haptics make every gunshot in Cyberpunk 2077 feel impactful. But then you realize something annoying. Half your library is actually sitting over on the Epic Games Store because you’ve been religiously claiming those free weekly titles for years. Now you’re staring at a device built by Valve—the creators of Steam—and wondering if your copy of Alan Wake 2 or Grand Theft Auto V is basically a paperweight.
It isn't. But it’s also not exactly "plug and play."
The reality of Epic Games on Steam Deck is a weird tale of two massive companies that don't really want to talk to each other. Valve wants you in their ecosystem. Tim Sweeney and the folks at Epic want you in theirs. This leaves you, the person who just wants to play video games on the couch, stuck in the middle of a corporate cold war.
Honestly, the Steam Deck is just a Linux PC. That’s the secret. Because it runs SteamOS (based on Arch Linux), you aren't strictly locked into Valve’s storefront. You can break out. You can install other launchers. It just takes a little bit of "tinkering" in Desktop Mode, which is enough to make some people want to throw the device out a window.
Why isn't there an official Epic Games app for SteamOS?
This is the question everyone asks. Why can't I just go to the Discovery Store in Desktop Mode and download a native Epic Games Store client?
Well, Epic hasn't made one.
The Epic Games Store is built for Windows and macOS. While Valve has spent millions of dollars and years of development on Proton—the compatibility layer that lets Windows games run on Linux—Epic hasn't shown much interest in supporting Linux natively. Tim Sweeney has been vocal about this on X (formerly Twitter), often citing the "fragmentation" of Linux or the difficulty of supporting Easy Anti-Cheat (EAC) across so many different kernel configurations.
It’s a bit of a stalemate. Valve provides the tools for developers to make their anti-cheat work on the Steam Deck, but the developers have to actually flip the switch. For games like Fortnite, Epic has famously refused to do this, citing security concerns. It's ironic, really. One of the biggest games in the world is owned by the company that owns the store you want to access, yet it’s one of the few games you absolutely cannot play natively on SteamOS.
How people actually play Epic Games on Steam Deck right now
Since there's no "official" way, the community did what it always does: they built their own. You have three main paths here, and none of them are perfect, but they all work better than you’d expect.
The Heroic Games Launcher
This is the gold standard. If you ask anyone on Reddit how to handle Epic Games on Steam Deck, they’ll point you here. It’s an open-source, native Linux client that handles Epic, GOG, and Amazon Games.
The beauty of Heroic is how it handles the "wine prefix" stuff for you. You log in, you see your library, and you hit install. It even has a button to "Add to Steam" so the game shows up in your normal gaming UI with all the pretty box art. It’s clean. It’s fast. And it doesn't feel like a hack.
Junk Store
This is a newer player in the space and it's gaining a lot of fans because it integrates directly into the Steam Deck's "Game Mode." It’s a plugin for Decky Loader. Instead of switching to Desktop Mode to manage your Epic library, you just do it right from the sidebar. It feels the most "native," even though it’s definitely not.
Non-Steam Shortcut (The Hard Way)
You can technically download the Windows installer for the Epic Games Store, add the .exe as a non-steam game, force compatibility with Proton, and run it that way.
Don't do this.
It sucks. The UI is tiny, the controls often break, and it’s a resource hog because you’re running a launcher inside a launcher to run a game. Stick to Heroic or Junk Store.
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The Anti-Cheat Wall: The Big Letdown
Let’s talk about the elephant in the room. You can get the launcher working. You can download the games. But if you try to launch Fortnite, Fallout 76, or certain versions of Dead by Daylight, you’re going to hit a wall.
Easy Anti-Cheat (EAC) and BattlEye are the gatekeepers.
When a game is sold on Steam, Valve works with the devs to ensure the Linux-compatible version of the anti-cheat is active. When you're pulling a Windows game from the Epic store and trying to run it on Linux, the anti-cheat often sees the Proton environment as a "threat" or a modified OS. It kicks you to the main menu.
Is it fixable? Yes. But it requires the developer to enable a specific module. For games like Elden Ring (on Steam), it works. For Fortnite? Epic has basically said "no" for the foreseeable future. If you want Fortnite on your Deck, you’re either installing Windows on an SD card or using Xbox Cloud Gaming through a browser. Both options feel like a compromise.
Performance: Is it actually any good?
Surprisingly, yes.
In some cases, games might actually run smoother than they do on a budget Windows laptop. This is because SteamOS is incredibly lightweight. When you run a game like Kingdom Hearts (an Epic exclusive for a long time) through Heroic Launcher, the Steam Deck's APU can focus entirely on the game rather than background Windows updates or telemetry.
But there is a catch: Shader Caching.
When you play a game natively on Steam, Valve pre-compiles the shaders and downloads them with the game. This prevents "stutter" when you enter a new area or see a new explosion. When you play via Epic Games on Steam Deck, you don't get those pre-compiled shaders. Your Deck has to build them on the fly.
The first time you play a game, you might notice some hitching. It usually goes away after 20 minutes of play once the shaders are cached locally, but it’s a "pro" versus "amateur" distinction that reminds you that you’re coloring outside the lines.
What about the "EGS-to-Steam" save sync?
This is where it gets hairy. Cloud saves are the backbone of modern gaming. You play on your PC, you pick up on your Deck.
Heroic Games Launcher does a decent job of syncing saves with Epic’s servers. It’s not 100% foolproof, though. I’ve had instances where I played Grime on my desktop and the save didn't show up on the Deck for an hour. If you're someone who jumps back and forth between devices every ten minutes, you might find yourself manually moving save files via WinPINATOR or a USB drive.
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It’s a minor headache. Just make sure you see the "Cloud Sync Complete" message in Heroic before you put the Deck to sleep.
The "Windows on Deck" Alternative
Some people get so fed up with the Linux workarounds that they just wipe SteamOS and install Windows.
Don't do this unless you really, really love Game Pass or Fortnite.
Windows on the Steam Deck is... fine. But you lose the "console feel." You lose the instant wake/sleep functionality that makes the Deck so special. You lose the specialized power management tools. If you’re just trying to access Epic Games on Steam Deck, installing Windows is like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
Instead, look into Bazzite or other SteamOS forks if you want a different experience, but honestly, the stock SteamOS with Heroic is the sweet spot for 99% of people.
Real World Example: Setting up Rocket League
Let's say you have Rocket League on Epic (since it’s no longer for sale on Steam).
- Switch to Desktop Mode (Hold power button -> Switch to Desktop).
- Open the Discover app (the blue shopping bag icon).
- Search for Heroic Games Launcher and install it.
- Open Heroic, log into your Epic account.
- Find Rocket League and hit install.
- Once it’s done, click the "Settings" icon for the game in Heroic and select "Add to Steam."
- Return to Gaming Mode.
Now, Rocket League sits right next to your Steam games. It uses your Steam controller configurations. It feels like it belongs there. This is the "magic" of the Deck—the ability to make a closed system feel open if you’re willing to spend five minutes in a desktop environment.
The Future of Epic and Valve
Will we ever see an official partnership? Probably not.
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The competition between these two is fierce. Epic’s 12% revenue split is a direct attack on Steam’s 30%. Steam’s features (Workshops, Forums, Guides) are a direct counter to Epic’s "just the game" minimalist approach.
However, as the Steam Deck grows in popularity—and as rivals like the ASUS ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion Go (which run Windows) gain ground—Valve has every incentive to make the Deck as "open" as possible. They won't block Epic. They just won't make it easy.
And Epic? They want their store everywhere. If the SteamOS user base hits a certain "critical mass," Epic might be forced to release a native Linux client just to keep their users happy. Until then, we rely on the community.
Actionable Steps for New Owners
If you just unboxed your Deck and want your Epic library, do this:
- Install Heroic Games Launcher immediately. It is the most stable and feature-rich way to handle non-Steam libraries.
- Check ProtonDB. Before downloading a massive game, check ProtonDB to see if the anti-cheat works. If the game is "Borked" on Linux, it doesn't matter if it's from Steam or Epic—it won't run.
- Get a keyboard and mouse. Doing the initial setup in Desktop Mode with the trackpads is a nightmare. Plug in a cheap USB hub and a mouse for the ten minutes it takes to sign into your accounts.
- Limit your expectations for Multiplayer. Stick to single-player epics like Cyberpunk, Red Dead Redemption 2, or Borderlands. These work flawlessly. Avoid anything that relies heavily on kernel-level anti-cheat unless you've verified it works.
- Use "BoilR". If you have a huge library across many launchers, an app called BoilR can automatically find all your installed games and add them to Steam with high-quality custom artwork.
The Steam Deck is a tinkerer's paradise. It’s not about what the device can do out of the box; it’s about what you’re willing to let it do. Getting Epic Games on Steam Deck is the first "rite of passage" for any new owner. Once you get that first non-Steam game running at 60fps, you’ll realize just how powerful this little handheld actually is.