It’s official. Epic Games confirmed that support of its self-named Epic Games Launcher is heading towards third-party Linux distribution operating systems. That list includes SteamOS, Fedora, CachyOS, and Omarchy.
Speaking to GamingOnLinux, Jake Jones, Communications Director at Epic Games, gave the following statement: “Hey Liam! The new Epic Games Launcher is still in Preview and we plan to support as many Linux distributions as possible, including Fedora, SteamOS, Cachy, Omarchy, and more. We’re testing and evaluating packaging formats for distribution, and we’ll restore AppImage this month.”
That last part is important, because Epic Games distributed the launcher as an Applmage prior to switching to a .deb package for Debian and Ubuntu. And in case you’re wondering, Applmage is an open-source software format for Linux that lets you run applications directly as a single file, without the use of a traditional installation process or having to access root privileges.
It’s interesting to see Epic Games having the intention of playing nice with SteamOS, especially given the ongoing feud between the two platforms. If you’ve been living under a rock, Valve takes a standard 30% cut of gross revenue from developer that publish and sell their games on its launcher, while the Unreal Engine owner allows developers to keep 100% of their first US$1 million (~RM4.06 million).
Once the developer’s net revenue exceeds that number, Epic Games proceeds to take a 12% cut, far less than Valve. Despite the significant cut in revenue, many developers still flock towards Steam and, to put it in fanboy terms, swear fealty to the Lord Gaben.
That aside, this still may not guarantee Fortnite compatibility on SteamOS. Having an official Epic Games launcher on the operating system could allow users access to their library on the former platform, without relying on third party clients. Epic says that it is developing an Easy Anti-Cheat Linux v2 to bring its exclusive title to Linux. Hopefully, that will address the lack of support for anti-cheat implementation on SteamOS. Simply put: being able to run on the Valve OS doesn’t automatically mean that Fortnite will be playable on the Steam Deck or Steam Machine.
(Source: GamingOnLinux, The Verge, Videocardz)
