Epic Games Launcher Confirmed for SteamOS and Steam Deck

Which distributions are planned

Asked about the AppImage download being replaced by Debian and Ubuntu .deb packages, Jones said: "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."

In practice, that means the AppImage format, which many Linux users prefer because it runs without a system-level install, is due to return this month. Epic is still weighing which packaging formats to offer in the long run.

Fortnite is a separate question

The announcement does not guarantee that Fortnite will run on SteamOS. Support for Easy Anti-Cheat (EAC) Linux v2 remains an open question. When Epic announced its work on bringing Fortnite to Linux, it said the Steam Deck "does not support the required features for our EAC v2 solution, but we are actively talking with Valve and hope to support it in the future."

For Steam Deck owners, the news means a path to Epic's store on Valve's hardware is becoming official rather than relying on workarounds. Whether the company's flagship shooter follows depends on talks between Epic and Valve over anti-cheat. Epic has not given a timeline for that, while the AppImage is promised within the month.