Epic Games Launcher Coming to Linux
Image from PC Gamer1.
Linux users are no longer being treated like second rate citizens. Companies are "starting" to recognize that there are alternatives to the duopoly of Microsoft and Apple's dominance in desktop operating systems. There are many factors that can contribute to these shifts with adopting Linux as a daily driver but in large part can be attributed to Valve's commitment and involvement into the Linux ecosystem best exemplified by developing their own operating system called Steam OS (a fork of Arch Linux) popularized with their release of their handheld gaming pc, the Steam Deck.
Despite 2026 being the year of the "RAMpocalypse", 2026 is also the inaugural year of Valve's answer to Playstation and XBox by releasing the Steam Machine while having a price tag above $1k. Reportedly it sells between 12-15k units a week2 contrary to the opinion announced in a previous post that I made suggesting it would be DOA3. The whole situation is a testament to Valve's involvement in the gaming community and how much goodwill translates to customer satisfaction and loyalty superseding even an unattractive price.
Linux was avoided like the plague for a long time. In most instances, if you were one of the rare users of Linux, people had to sort of "hack" their way around to get certain applications to work on Linux. Well, that still is sort of the case, with less friction. The effort from Valve and the Linux community, as a whole, have really expanded the user base enough to create inertia that eventually pulls in companies because the numbers are no longer small enough to ignore. This will only grow over time. Epic Games making an announcement to release their game launcher on Linux 'soon'1 is an obvious shift and them recognizing the river is flowing in different directions and in order to stay competitive, means they don't have to go against the flow.
DISCLAIMER
This post is not sponsored. All thoughts are my own.
Since Epic Game's launcher release in 2018, the company underwent many significant changes and more recently announced during Unreal Fest in June 2026, they will support open standards and release open source software (Lore version control being one of them). These announcements were quite significant and precursors to getting more involved in open source projects. These changes are significant shifts compared to when they originally launched. This migration of their workflow and ecosystem would inevitably have them do a native build of the game launcher for Linux. It would be safe to predict that Unreal Engine could eventually receive full Linux support in the coming future(but that is just a daydream for now).
Epic Games is not the only company warming up to Linux. Good Old Games (GOG), another competing game service, have also dedicated resources to have their launcher (Galaxy) run natively on Linux. Nvidia GeForce NOW officially arrives for Linux!4
Currently the easiest way to access your games on Epic or GOG on a Linux operating system have been through other applications such as Heroic or Lutris, both of which help manage the compatibility layer to get Windows games (and apps) to run on Linux. They work well enough, however, this is not ideal because of the nature of having to workaround compatibility issues even though, for the most part, it works incredibly well. Many players have been tinkering around for a quite some time to access their game libraries on Linux and companies are taking notice. Considering that the Linux community is growing, still quite small comparatively to Windows, if the volume of sold units are to be held is true, there will be many more gamers on Linux in part to Valve releasing the Steam Deck and Steam Machine.
Philosophically we have to dissect why players are migrating to Linux or another operating system, entirely. The age of the walled gardens are starting to erode, fear of the surveillance state, and the concept of ownership becoming less plausible for gamers are just some of the reasons why gamers are deciding to migrate to an ecosystem that gives them more liberties despite adding some friction to their gaming experience . Linux is not the panacea for every use case, however, it is an option and a solution if the alternatives don't give the people what they want. The common sentiment that many gamers feel like they are being left in the lurch.
I can get a lot of hate for this, however I should also note that Valve is not an all benevolent entity in all of this. They have intentions with the actions they take. Valve is a business. There is nothing wrong with having a business. I should also point out Valve is a great successful business making good decisions on behalf of their customers, realized and unrealized. This is one of the main reasons it has dominated the landscape because they continue to contribute to the community they serve, where other companies have been perceived, real or not, to be working against the customer in the sake of more profit.
For those migrating away from Microsoft, I should also point out that Microsoft is also a large contributor to open source, as well, and we can't dismiss them just because we perceive them as anti-"something". We also have to acknowledge that Microsoft is a VERY successful company where in some regards, I can't fault them for making decisions on behalf of the company. I am not making an endorsement for or against them, I don't feel the need to demonize them. The fact is, we do have a choice of whether or not use Windows as our operating system and these have trade-offs.
The philosophical conversation is a HUGE topic in on itself and could be expanded on for future posts. For gamers in particular, decisions can often be summed up by simply whether or not you want to tinker around just to play the games you acquired. Generally speaking PC gaming leans more towards having to tinker more often and with Linux even more so.
With all that being said, if you are looking for "pure" flexibility and quasi-affordability, Linux is going to be the obvious choice albeit with the expectation that you may need to tinker around every now and then. The great thing is, there has never been a better time to jump into gaming, especially on Linux.
Companies dedicating development time for applications to run natively on Linux is a great telltale sign that Linux is not an after thought let alone be a platform simply known for servers that run the internet. Linux, in general, is a mature operating system that can serve multiple uses including daily usage for Desktop and gaming. These trends will continue to increase as time passes where more and more people realize is it not as difficult to get into once you start. Epic Games bringing their launcher to Linux is another example why you should consider jumping into Linux, even if you have to wait until it fully releases; but by that account, you technically don't have to wait, you can already use the Epic Game launcher on Linux. Cheers!
WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT LINUX? Click the topics below:
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Gaming: Which is better, Console (Nintendo, Playstation, Xbox) or Personal Computer (PC)?
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Video Game Review Warhammer 40k: Space Marine
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The Correct and Complete Way to Install Itch.io game launcher on Linux
VERSIONS
2026v.0.1.0: init5
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