Epic Games recently confirmed that the native Linux client for its gaming platform, the Epic Games Store, is under development and expected to launch "soon." This means Steam Deck and Linux desktop users will be able to access the Epic game library directly without relying on third-party tools in the future.
The news comes from an "Ask Me Anything" event on the Epic Games Store official community. An Epic employee named "onepercentnachos" clearly stated in response to community questions that the Linux client is under development and support will be available "soon." However, he also clarified that this feature will not be included in the upcoming preview version, implying that the team needs to do "more than just make the launcher run natively on Linux," suggesting broader platform integration is underway.
Currently, Linux and Steam Deck users who want to play games from the Epic Store mainly rely on open-source third-party tools like Heroic Games Launcher. These tools run Windows versions of games through Wine or Proton compatibility layers, but the configuration is relatively cumbersome and not an official solution. The release of a native client will directly address this issue.
The scheduling of the Linux client is closely tied to the underlying technical restructuring of the Epic Games Launcher. Epic is migrating the launcher from an Unreal Engine-based architecture to a new version built on the Rust framework Tauri. The new architecture does not bundle a browser engine but instead directly calls the operating system's WebView, significantly lowering the barrier for cross-platform porting. According to Epic's presentation at Unreal Fest in June 2026, the new client's cold start speed will improve by approximately 5 times, and the speed of restoring it from the taskbar will increase by about 6.5 times.
Epic joining the Linux camp is not an isolated case. Recently, GOG also confirmed plans for a Linux version of GOG Galaxy, and NVIDIA's GeForce Now Linux client has officially launched after ending its testing phase. These developments indicate that as the Steam Deck continues to expand the Linux gaming user base, mainstream gaming platforms are re-evaluating Linux from a "marginal platform" to a formal battlefield requiring dedicated support.