Epic Games Launcher Is Officially Coming to SteamOS, but Fortnite Still Isn't

Epic Games has put SteamOS on the official list. After months of ambiguity, the company's communications director, Jake Jones, told GamingOnLinux that the new Epic Games Launcher for Linux is planned to support "as many Linux distributions as possible, including Fedora, SteamOS, Cachy, Omarchy, and more" ^¹. It is the first time Epic has explicitly named Valve's operating system as a target, according to TechPowerUp ^².

The distinction matters because SteamOS is the system running on the Steam Deck and the upcoming Steam Machine. Until now, Epic's Linux launcher existed in a preview state without SteamOS listed among supported distributions, which left Deck owners relying on third-party tools to reach their Epic libraries. Official support would mean a first-party path to those games instead of community workarounds.

What the launcher actually is right now

The timeline is worth keeping straight. Epic said in August that a native Linux launcher was returning, and the Preview build arrived on October 14. At present it ships only as a.deb package aimed at Debian and Ubuntu. Jones said Epic is testing and evaluating packaging formats and will restore the AppImage version this month. An AppImage is a single self-contained executable that runs across distributions without a package manager, which is why its temporary removal drew questions in the first place.

That packaging detail is the practical bottleneck. A.deb-only build is awkward on an immutable, image-based system like SteamOS, so the AppImage's return is arguably more consequential for Deck owners than the distribution list itself. Epic has not said how the launcher will behave inside SteamOS's Game Mode, and that remains unconfirmed.

Fortnite is a separate question

SteamOS support for the launcher does not mean Fortnite arrives on the Deck. Epic has said it intends to bring Fortnite to Linux through the new launcher once its EAC Linux v2 anti-cheat is ready, but that system relies on a signed kernel, Secure Boot and other security requirements. Epic previously stated that the Steam Deck "does not support the required features for our EAC v2 solution," while adding that it was talking with Valve and hoped to support the hardware in the future. Nothing in the current statements changes that.

Windows games run through the launcher will still need a compatibility layer. In the current Preview, Epic handles this by downloading GE-Proton, a community-built Proton variant. That is a meaningful convenience, but it is not the same as native support, and performance will vary by title.

What Deck owners should take away

For anyone with a library split between Steam and Epic, the announcement is a genuine improvement in convenience: fewer launcher workarounds, one less reason to keep a Windows partition or a third-party client around. The caveats are equally concrete. Support is planned, not shipped. The distribution list is a statement of intent rather than a compatibility guarantee. Game Mode behavior is unspecified. And the biggest Epic title of all stays off the device until the anti-cheat question is settled with Valve.

The reasonable reading is that Epic is building the plumbing first and leaving the Fortnite decision to a later date. Deck owners who mainly want access to purchased Epic titles have something to look forward to; those waiting to play Fortnite on Valve's hardware should treat the news as unrelated to that goal. If you are still weighing which handheld fits your existing library, our comparison of the Steam Deck LCD and ROG Ally for older backlog games covers the hardware side of that decision.

Sources

1. ¹ Epic Games Launcher is coming to SteamOS www.theverge.com
2. ² Epic Games Names SteamOS Among Planned Linux Targets for Its New Launcher www.techpowerup.com