Affiliate disclosure: This guide contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. Learn more.
How to Play Epic Games Store Games on Steam Deck in 2026
2026-08-17 · Setup guide
Affiliate disclosure: This guide contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. Learn more.
If you have been claiming Epic's free game every week for a few years, you probably own a library you have never touched. On a Steam Deck, you can play most of it.
Epic does not have a Linux client yet. It has confirmed one is coming, with no date. Until then, the way this works is a community launcher called Heroic, and the setup is genuinely easy. Budget about ten minutes.
What Heroic Actually Does
Worth understanding before you install it, because it explains every quirk in this guide.
Heroic Games Launcher is a native Linux app that talks to Epic's servers directly. It handles logging in, browsing your library, downloading games, and launching them. It also does the same for GOG and Amazon Games.
What it does not do is run Windows games by magic. Your Epic games are Windows executables, so Heroic launches them through Proton, the same compatibility layer Steam uses. Heroic is the storefront and the manager. Proton does the translating.
That split is why most problems here are Proton problems rather than Heroic problems, and why the fix is usually "change the Proton version."
Step 1: Get to Desktop Mode
Hold the power button, choose Switch to Desktop. The Deck reboots into a normal KDE Plasma desktop.
This part is easier with a keyboard and mouse, though the touchscreen and trackpads work fine. The Steam button plus X brings up the on screen keyboard whenever you need it.
Step 2: Install Heroic from Discover
Open Discover, the blue shopping bag icon in the taskbar. Search for Heroic. Install it.
Discover installs it as a Flatpak, which is what you want. It updates itself through Discover alongside everything else, and it survives SteamOS updates. Do not download an AppImage from the Heroic website instead. On SteamOS the Flatpak is the maintained path and it avoids permission headaches later.
Once it finishes, Heroic appears in the application launcher under Games.
Step 3: Sign In to Epic
Open Heroic. It will offer you Epic, GOG and Amazon. Pick Epic Games Store and click Login.
A browser window opens to Epic's sign in page. Log in normally, including two factor if you have it. Heroic hands off to your browser for this, which is a good sign rather than a bad one, because it means Heroic never sees your password.
Once you are through, your Epic library populates. Free games you claimed and forgot about will all be sitting there.
Step 4: Install a Game
Click a game, then Install.
Two settings on that screen are worth a moment.
Install path. The default goes to internal storage. If you are installing something large and using a microSD card, point it at the card instead. Heroic will remember per game. Note that Epic games on a slow card will load noticeably worse, so a fast card is worth it here.
Wine or Proton version. This is the important one. In the dropdown, choose a Proton GE build if one is offered, or the newest Proton in the list. Proton GE is a community build with extra media codecs and game specific fixes, and it resolves a large share of the "game installs but will not launch" cases before they happen.
If Proton GE is not in the list, open Heroic's settings, find the Wine Manager tab, and download the latest Proton GE from there. It takes a minute and it is the single highest value thing you can do in this setup.
Then install. Heroic downloads at full speed and shows progress properly.
Step 5: Launch It Once in Desktop Mode
Before you do anything else, run the game from Heroic while you are still in Desktop Mode.
The first launch is where things go wrong, and diagnosing it with a mouse and a visible error message is far easier than diagnosing it in Game Mode where a failure just looks like a black screen and a bounce back to the library.
Many Epic games also install a prerequisite on first run, usually a Visual C++ redistributable or a launcher of their own. Let that finish.
If it runs, you are basically done.
Step 6: Add It to Steam and Return to Game Mode
Playing from Desktop Mode works, but it is not the experience you bought a Deck for. You want the game in Game Mode.
Heroic does this for you. Right click the game in your Heroic library and choose Add to Steam. Heroic creates the Steam shortcut, points it at the right executable, and pulls in artwork.
Now switch back to Game Mode. Your Epic game appears in the Steam library under Non-Steam games.
One thing to check when you get there. Open the game's properties in Steam, go to Compatibility, and confirm a Proton version is forced on. Heroic usually sets this correctly, but shortcuts occasionally land without it, and that produces a game that refuses to start with no explanation.
Controller Setup
Non-Steam games do not get an official controller layout, so the Deck falls back to a default that may or may not suit the game.
Open the game in Game Mode, press the Steam button, go to Controller Settings, and browse Community Layouts. Popular Epic titles almost always have one. If not, start from the Gamepad template rather than Keyboard (Mouse and Keyboard), since nearly every Epic game supports a controller natively and just needs the Deck to present itself as one.
For anything that genuinely needs a mouse, the right trackpad as mouse plus the left as a scroll or radial menu is the layout most people land on.
Cloud Saves
Heroic supports Epic cloud saves, and it is on by default for games that offer it.
Two things to know. First, it syncs on game close, so quitting a game by force closing it from the Steam menu can skip the upload. Exit through the game's own menu when you care about the save. Second, if you also play the same game on a Windows PC, check the sync completed before you switch machines. Conflicts here are recoverable but annoying.
What Usually Goes Wrong
Game installs but will not launch. Change the Proton version. Try the newest Proton GE first, then the newest official Proton. This fixes the majority of cases.
Black screen then back to the library, in Game Mode only. The shortcut is missing a forced Proton version. Set it in the game's Compatibility properties in Steam.
Anti-cheat games refuse to run. Some will never work. Anything using an anti cheat the developer has not enabled for Proton is a hard stop, and no Proton version fixes it. Fortnite is the well known example. Check ProtonDB for your specific game before troubleshooting for an hour.
Download stalls or fails partway. Pause and resume in Heroic. If it persists, check that your install path has room, especially on a microSD card.
Game runs but has no sound or no video in cutscenes. Missing media codecs. This is exactly what Proton GE exists to fix, so switch to it.
Everything worked, then a SteamOS update broke it. Rare with the Flatpak install, but if it happens, updating Heroic through Discover is the first move.
Battery and Performance Notes
Epic games are ordinary PC games, so they behave like ordinary PC games on a Deck. The usual levers apply. Cap the frame rate to 30 or 40 in the Quick Access Menu rather than letting it run free, drop to a lower TDP for older titles, and use the per game profile so your settings stick.
Running through Proton costs a little performance compared to native, though for most games the difference is small enough that you will not notice it next to the frame cap you set anyway.
Longer sessions on a Deck are more comfortable with a decent grip or case, particularly for the kind of longer PC games sitting in most Epic libraries.
What Changes When Epic Ships Its Native Client
Epic confirmed in August 2026 that a native Linux client is coming, with no date and no inclusion in the next preview build. We covered the announcement in full here.
When it lands, the practical differences should be fewer moving parts. No Proton wrapper around the launcher itself, more reliable cloud saves and account features, and a much less annoying weekly free game claim. Your games will still be Windows executables running through Proton, so game compatibility itself will not change much.
Nothing you set up today is wasted. Installed games stay installed, and Heroic will keep working regardless, since it also handles GOG and Amazon libraries that Epic's client never will.
Set this up now. Revisit when Epic gives a date.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you play Epic Games Store games on a Steam Deck?
Yes. Install the Heroic Games Launcher from Discover in Desktop Mode, sign in to your Epic account, and install games from there. Heroic runs them through Proton and can add them to your Steam library so they show up in Game Mode. Epic has no native Linux client yet.
Is Heroic Games Launcher safe?
Yes. It is a well established open source project, and it is available through Discover on SteamOS. Logging in happens in your normal browser on Epic's own sign in page, so Heroic never handles your password. It also supports GOG and Amazon Games libraries.
Should I install Heroic as a Flatpak or an AppImage?
Flatpak, through Discover. It updates alongside everything else, it survives SteamOS updates, and it avoids the permission and sandboxing issues that AppImages sometimes hit on SteamOS. The AppImage from the Heroic website works but is the harder path on a Deck.
Why will my Epic game not launch on Steam Deck?
Usually the Proton version. Switch the game to the newest Proton GE build in Heroic, which fixes most launch failures and missing codec problems. If it fails only in Game Mode and works in Desktop Mode, the Steam shortcut is missing a forced Proton version, which you set in the game's Compatibility properties.
Does Fortnite work on Steam Deck through Heroic?
No. Fortnite is blocked by Easy Anti-Cheat, which Epic has chosen not to enable for Proton. That is a policy decision rather than a technical limit, and no launcher or Proton version works around it. Epic's upcoming native Linux client is not expected to change it.
Do Epic cloud saves work with Heroic?
Yes, for games that support them, and it is enabled by default. The main thing to know is that sync happens when the game closes, so force quitting from the Steam menu can skip the upload. Exit through the game's own menu when the save matters.
Can I put Epic games on a microSD card?
Yes. Change the install path when you install the game, and Heroic remembers it per game. Use a fast card, since load times on cheap cards are noticeably worse for larger PC games. Games installed to a card still add to Steam and run from Game Mode normally.
Related Reading
Related reading
GuideGuideGuide