While the Epic Games Store itself is not officially supported by the open source Linux operating system, a third-party gaming client has now made sure that you can access the store and launcher on your own distro.
The Epic Games Store is now accessible on Linux via the Lutris Gaming client. The client is available to all Linux users, who in the past has provided the same users a way to play PC games without the need to have Windows installed in their machines.
Although Linux is not necessarily the go-to platform when it comes to PC gaming, there is a very niche audience dedicated to making the platform work in favor of open-source and to counteract what could be perceived as a heavily Windows-biased PC gaming community. Linux gaming is somewhat tedious to the relatively casual or normal user, although there are some within the Linux community that advertise and try to foster its growth in terms of gaming, as there are some games that can run better on the operating system. That is to say, if you have a lot of patience to try and make it work.
Lutris is a Godsend for some of Linux users, however, since it allows them to play a large portion of PC games without running into any problems, as opposed to having to look for workarounds yourself. Lutris acts as a launcher of sorts, utilizing a single interface within the UI to basically run all the games you have – as long as there are no compatibility issues with it.
Good news! @EpicGames Store is now fully functional under Linux if you use Lutris to install it! No issues observed whatsoever. https://t.co/cYmd7PcYdG@TimSweeneyEpic will probably like this ? pic.twitter.com/7mt9fXt7TH
— Lutris (@LutrisGaming) April 17, 2019
The announcement of support for the Epic Games Store is big news, seeing as now both it and Steam can be accessed through Lutris, which just translates to another audience of the PC gaming market. However, the store’s biggest game, Fornite, is still not available for play due to the game’s extensive anti-cheat systems.
While Epic Games Store is still in its infancy, it recently rolled out its long-term plans for its launcher in the future. What’s good is that now, it can cross out Linux support for that list.
Epic Games Store Feature Release Plans
April
- Search by genre and tag
- Improvements to Offline Mode
- Install management “under the hood” overhaul
- Store video hosting
- Store page redesign
- Improved DLC support
May
- Cloud saves
- Add-on purchase checks
- Improved patch sizes
Within 4 to 6 months
- User reviews
- Wishlists
- Newsfeed and follow improvements
- Price adjusting bundles
- Additional payment methods
- Additional currencies
- Player play time tracking
- Mod support for games
- Epic games overlay
- Library improvements
Long term (over six months)
- Achievements
- Shopping cart
- Direct carrier billing
- Social overhaul
Release date TBD
- Automated refunds
- Arabic store translation
- Korean game releases
- Gifting
- Android store
