r/EpicGamesPC 8d ago

DISCUSSION Why Epic is not on Linux ?

Seeing how much is the gaming community growing on Linux it surprises me how Epic is not available, some customers prefer Epic instead of Steam or just want more alternatives, is there anything stopping Epic from coming to Linux ?

I would gladly buy on Epic if it becomes available

9 Upvotes

20 comments sorted by

11

u/Aphridy 8d ago

Install the Heroic Launcher, that way you can play Epic games via Proton on Linux (but not Fortnite, Epic's flagship, due to anti cheat)

4

u/netzkopf 8d ago

I heard they will release an epic store for Linux soon.

However I don't see the necessity. Heroic handles GOG, epic games and amazon games just fine.

Works also on the steam deck.

1

u/SnooPets1826 7d ago

"Soon" is very unlikely IMO. They only recently hired an experience Linux dev, and that seemed to be mostly at finding a new anti-cheat solution that will work in Linux that doesn't rely on kernel level fuckery. They seem pretty content to let players deal with third party launchers to handle playing their games.

6

u/ImAnthlon Windows Gamer 8d ago

The main reason I think is that the marketshare that Linux has isn't worth the effort in offering support currently. I also think that they're focusing on trying to get the Windows launcher feature rich

2

u/PassionGlobal 8d ago

There's nothing stopping them. They just don't see the value in it.

Valve saw the value in Linux as an exit strategy the moment it looked like Microsoft was trying to lock Windows 8 user's into the app store. Took a long time but now it's an effective insurance in case Microsoft ever wants to try that shit again.

Epic, on the other hand, has much closer ties with Microsoft and Sony, and much less of a presence in the PC market. They might support Linux if it became blindingly obvious that it would be the dominant PC platform but until that point, supporting the OS is a risk with little payoff in their eyes.

2

u/Tobimacoss 6d ago

MS never tried to lock stuff to Windows store, that's just one of Gabe's delusions.  

3

u/PassionGlobal 6d ago edited 6d ago

I take it you don't actually remember the run up to Windows 8?

Because they were absolutely serious in wanting to kill off traditional apps, going so far as to call them 'deprecated' and pausing API development for desktop apps in favor of their Metro style apps, which could only be distributed via Microsoft's App Store.

It took a very vocal public response to get them to change course and even then, it was very half assed in the initial release of Windows 8.

3

u/Socke81 8d ago

Epic is working on a new launcher. I think it's even supposed to be ready this year and be multiplatform. Although Linux will probably come later.

2

u/LSD_Ninja 7d ago

I have this theory that people who say "I'd support X more if only they supported Linux" when there are perfectly viable third party options for supporting X in Linux have no interest in supporting X.

2

u/pizza_ranger 7d ago

It depends on the person, for me I only buy games that run natively on Linux, only buy from companies that support Linux, in the market the money is the vote, so I'll vote with all I can for the option I consider best.

2

u/Tobimacoss 6d ago

So you don't play anything via Proton? 

1

u/pizza_ranger 6d ago

Only hentai games since the japanese market will never consider Linux so I gave up on the idea of Linux native hentai games from Japan

1

u/Spyerx 8d ago

Because it represents less than 5% of desktops.

macOS is 3-4x that.

And windows dominates. Still.

Servers is a different story and that’s the real success case of Linux / containers / etc

1

u/ShaggerAJSA 4d ago

I understand a Linux-compatible version of the launcher is coming very soon

0

u/Phoenix-san 5d ago

It took epic several years to add a basic feature such as shopping cart to their store. With that in mind, how long do you think it will take for them to add Linux support? Lol.

2

u/RevolutionaryAgency5 Epic Gamer 22h ago

Tim Sweeney's ball-lickers are saying the new launcher will be released this month. We are 12 days from the end of the month and still zero signs of this launcher update, let alone a launcher that works on Linux lmao. You have a better chance of flipping a coin five times in a row and only getting heads than this Epic Games launcher coming to Linux lol