The Epic Games Store will add Linux support "soon," according to a report from Steam Deck HQ, signaling that Epic Games is preparing to bring its PC storefront to an operating system it has largely ignored since the launcher's 2018 debut.

The single word "soon" carries significant operational weight here. Linux has remained a conspicuous gap in the Epic Games Store's platform coverage for more than half a decade, and that gap has grown more commercially relevant as Valve's Steam Deck — and the handheld category it revived — has expanded the audience for Linux-based gaming machines.

What changes for developers

For studios shipping on the Epic Games Store, Linux support changes the addressable hardware footprint. Until now, players on Linux desktop distributions or the Steam Deck's SteamOS could only reach Epic-hosted titles through workarounds such as Proton-based compatibility layers or community launcher wrappers like the Heroic Games Launcher, neither of which Epic officially supported or guaranteed.

Official Linux support means Epic itself would handle or at least sanction the compatibility path. That distinction matters for studios weighing support costs: when a platform holder owns the compatibility layer, bug reports, refund disputes and negative reviews stemming from technical failures shift from a grey area to a supported channel with defined accountability.

It also matters for engines. Epic distributes Unreal Engine, which supports Linux as a build target. A storefront that runs natively on Linux closes a loop for Unreal developers who could already compile for the platform but had no first-party Epic channel to sell through.

The Steam Deck context

Steam Deck HQ's reporting frames the timing against the Steam Deck ecosystem. Valve's device runs SteamOS 3, an Arch-based Linux distribution, and has sold in the millions since its February 2022 launch. Third-party estimates have consistently put Steam's Linux user share in the low single digits of Steam's concurrent user base — a small percentage of a very large number, and one concentrated among exactly the enthusiast buyers most likely to spend on premium PC titles.

For years, that audience belonged almost exclusively to Valve. Epic's absence from Linux meant the company ceded the handheld-adjacent PC segment to its chief storefront competitor. A native or officially supported Epic Games Store client would give publishers on Epic's platform — particularly those using Epic's 12/88 revenue split to improve margins — access to those players without a separate Valve relationship.

Tim Sweeney has publicly discussed Linux as a strategic issue in the past, framing broad platform openness as a long-term goal for Epic while acknowledging the technical and resource costs involved. A concrete "soon" timeline, even without a specific date attached, represents the firmest signal yet that those plans have moved from principle to execution.

What remains unknown

The report does not specify how Epic will deliver Linux support. Three plausible implementation paths carry different implications:

• A native Linux client, built on Epic's Unreal or Qt-based tooling, would offer the deepest integration and the best performance profile.
• A Wine or Proton-compatible Windows client, certified by Epic, would ship faster but inherit the quirks of translation-layer execution.
• A web-based storefront tier, handling purchases and entitlements in-browser while downloads route through a minimal local component, would be the lightest lift but the weakest experience.

Each path sets a different support burden for studios fielding player complaints, and each changes how anti-cheat vendors — whose Linux compatibility record remains inconsistent across titles — would need to certify their software.

The monetization mechanics of the Epic Games Store, including its free weekly game giveaways and its suite of publisher-facing tools, would also need Linux-side equivalents. How much of that surface arrives in the first release will indicate whether this is a full platform commitment or a preliminary footprint.

Why now

The competitive logic is straightforward. Valve has spent years hardening Proton, expanding verified-game coverage on Steam Deck, and cultivating the handheld Linux audience. Epic, meanwhile, has focused its storefront investments on exclusives, free titles and its self-publishing pipeline. Linux support extends that self-publishing value proposition to a segment of the market that currently has no sanctioned way to spend money with Epic.

For publishers deciding between launch storefronts — or splitting revenue between the 12/88 split and Steam's larger but costlier audience — a Linux-capable Epic Games Store marginally improves the case for simultaneous multi-store launches.

The word to watch is the release date. Epic has not published one, and "soon" from a third-party outlet is not a commitment. Steam Deck HQ's track record on SteamOS-adjacent reporting gives the claim weight, but studios and players should treat the timeline as soft until Epic confirms shipping details, distribution format and supported distributions on the record.