Despite the Epic Games Store not offering Linux support at all, it still seems to be somewhat popular with Linux users as the unofficial Heroic Games Launcher hit a big downloads milestone. Taking into account that the project does now also support Windows and macOS, it was originally Linux-only up until July 2021 where it gained initial support for the others.
In early November developer Flávio F Lima noted Heroic had hit 100,000 downloads, and less than a month later it's hit another 10,000+ according to the GitHub project page.
Considering how many free games have been given out by Epic, it's not exactly surprising that quite a lot of Linux users have looked to Heroic to make things easier to manage. Still a shame that Epic don't support their store directly but I can personally confirm how well Heroic works as a way to download and get into games, as long as you don't mind them all running through a compatibility layer unsupported.
Nice to see an open source project like this doing so well.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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"Still a shame that Epic don't support their store directly"
actually i would still use heroic, or rare even if epic had a native linux client
why should i use a closed source client, when there are 2 open source alternatives?
actually i would still use heroic, or rare even if epic had a native linux client
why should i use a closed source client, when there are 2 open source alternatives?
13 Likes, Who?
questioner9 Dec 2, 2021
Heroic is great :) . I wouldn't buy a game via Epic store since they don't support Linux, so use other stores which do, but I'm happy to claim the free games they give out each week and try them with Proton.
Much credit and thanks to Flávio F Lima and other contributors to Heroic on making it so easy. Also thanks to the developers of the Legendary backend.
Much credit and thanks to Flávio F Lima and other contributors to Heroic on making it so easy. Also thanks to the developers of the Legendary backend.
9 Likes, Who?
I don't like epic and don't have an account on it, even with a lot of impressive games for free.
But I find fantastic that they at least "allow" third party apps, I mean, even Steam having a native app, it suck so much that I would use any alternative. Would be nice stores to Origin and UPlay too
But I find fantastic that they at least "allow" third party apps, I mean, even Steam having a native app, it suck so much that I would use any alternative. Would be nice stores to Origin and UPlay too
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Just as an aside Legendary itself also accumulated over 100k downloads as of last month (GitHub + PyPI, not counting the packages in Fedora, AUR, etc.).
3 Likes, Who?
I don't like epic and don't have an account on it, even with a lot of impressive games for free.Uhhh . . . does Valve do anything that would make a thing like Heroic impossible? I thought it's just nobody bothered because Steam is right there and mimicking the features would be a ridiculously big job.
But I find fantastic that they at least "allow" third party apps, I mean, even Steam having a native app, it suck so much that I would use any alternative. Would be nice stores to Origin and UPlay too
3 Likes, Who?
Vasya Sovari Dec 2, 2021
can confirm Heroic is the best way to claim free games I'll probably never play. Totally worth it
5 Likes, Who?
100k? aside from fortinite players it might as well have more user than the official client, that thing suck
2 Likes, Who?
apologies for my naivety on this but i have a few question:
1. do you have to run a separate client among the Heroic launcher to play games from the EA store ? i.e Heroic downloads the game but then installs the actual client in wine?
2. How (if any) is DRM handled, is it any different to the way steam does things with EA game is there any extra layer here or does it just depend on the specific game ? do all EA games released use a DRM layer authenticated via the client ?
3. Can i download or get a key from EA account using Heroic and then add it to steam and it show up in my library as a legit copy ( i don't expect that of course )
4. Can i somehow use the Heroic client to act as a buffer for the EA games that are bought on steam where it claims a 3rd party client is needed ?
sorry for the newb questions, i don't really support EA anymore, im just more intrigued as to how it works.
edit* 5. Is it easy to get proton working with this, instead of just using wine prefixes.
Last edited by Lofty on 3 December 2021 at 2:17 am UTC
1. do you have to run a separate client among the Heroic launcher to play games from the EA store ? i.e Heroic downloads the game but then installs the actual client in wine?
2. How (if any) is DRM handled, is it any different to the way steam does things with EA game is there any extra layer here or does it just depend on the specific game ? do all EA games released use a DRM layer authenticated via the client ?
3. Can i download or get a key from EA account using Heroic and then add it to steam and it show up in my library as a legit copy ( i don't expect that of course )
4. Can i somehow use the Heroic client to act as a buffer for the EA games that are bought on steam where it claims a 3rd party client is needed ?
sorry for the newb questions, i don't really support EA anymore, im just more intrigued as to how it works.
edit* 5. Is it easy to get proton working with this, instead of just using wine prefixes.
Last edited by Lofty on 3 December 2021 at 2:17 am UTC
2 Likes, Who?
I'm not terribly familiar with EA games on EGS (or Steam for that matter), but if they require an extra client (Origin?) for Steam, I'm sure they do for EGS as well.
Heroic runs all games through Wine, since Epic does not have any Linux downloads.
Heroic is not doing anything for DRM; whether it sets up Origin like Steam does for those games that need/use it, I do not know.
You can add non-Steam games to Steam, but Steam isn't going to see them as "Steam copies". I imagine Origin has its own authentication mechanisms, which might link to Steam and/or EGS accounts.
No.
Yes, you can point it at any Wine or Proton instance.
1. do you have to run a separate client among the Heroic launcher to play games from the EA store ? i.e Heroic downloads the game but then installs the actual client in wine?
Heroic runs all games through Wine, since Epic does not have any Linux downloads.
2. How (if any) is DRM handled, is it any different to the way steam does things with EA game is there any extra layer here or does it just depend on the specific game ? do all EA games released use a DRM layer authenticated via the client ?
Heroic is not doing anything for DRM; whether it sets up Origin like Steam does for those games that need/use it, I do not know.
3. Can i download or get a key from EA account using Heroic and then add it to steam and it show up in my library as a legit copy ( i don't expect that of course )
You can add non-Steam games to Steam, but Steam isn't going to see them as "Steam copies". I imagine Origin has its own authentication mechanisms, which might link to Steam and/or EGS accounts.
4. Can i somehow use the Heroic client to act as a buffer for the EA games that are bought on steam where it claims a 3rd party client is needed ?
No.
5. Is it easy to get proton working with this, instead of just using wine prefixes.
Yes, you can point it at any Wine or Proton instance.
1 Likes, Who?
Hopefully more capable developers get inspired by this work and create such open source tools for the other game launchers /stores out there.
1 Likes, Who?
Heroic is great :) . I wouldn't buy a game via Epic store since they don't support Linux, so use other stores which do, but I'm happy to claim the free games they give out each week and try them with Proton.
Much credit and thanks to Flávio F Lima and other contributors to Heroic on making it so easy. Also thanks to the developers of the Legendary backend.
Have a full games library of 114 free via EPIC Control works flawlessly under Heroic, but can't get Ray Tracing or DLSS working. would need at least a 2TB Nvme to install them.
Linux gaming is on the up for sure.
1 Likes, Who?
why should i use a closed source client, when there are 2 open source alternatives?Because the closed-source store is better?
I'm not saying that it is in this case (last I checked, original EGS was not very good), but that would definitely be a very valid reason.
Using open source just because it is open source is pointless - it actually has be good software in order to improve your experience.
1 Likes, Who?
on_en_a_gros Dec 3, 2021
. do you have to run a separate client among the Heroic launcher to play games from the EA store ? i.e Heroic downloads the game but then installs the actual client in wine?
If I remember correctly heroic doesn't support origin. When you grab a EA gale it'll show up on your origin account, and you need to install origin on your own ( which is, in my case at least, a painfully experience )
1 Likes, Who?
Yes, I grabbed Battlefront 2 while it was free on Epic, but the game didn't even show up in Heroic.. do you have to run a separate client among the Heroic launcher to play games from the EA store ? i.e Heroic downloads the game but then installs the actual client in wine?
If I remember correctly heroic doesn't support origin. When you grab a EA gale it'll show up on your origin account, and you need to install origin on your own ( which is, in my case at least, a painfully experience )
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I don't know exactly how Heroic handles Origin titles at the Moment, but as the author of Legendary I can at least give you some answers on the technical side of things.
1. do you have to run a separate client among the Heroic launcher to play games from the EA store ? i.e Heroic downloads the game but then installs the actual client in wine?Yes. Heroic/Legendary actually don't download the game because Origin games cannot be downloaded from Epic's platform directly. Instead you just link your accounts and activate the game on your EA account. The game is then installed via Origin.
2. How (if any) is DRM handled, is it any different to the way steam does things with EA game is there any extra layer here or does it just depend on the specific game ? do all EA games released use a DRM layer authenticated via the client ?It's a little different in that you don't actually need to have Heroic/Legendary running. They just need to open a special URL that tells Origin to launch your game and makes it think it was called from the Epic launcher.
3. Can i download or get a key from EA account using Heroic and then add it to steam and it show up in my library as a legit copy ( i don't expect that of course )No.
4. Can i somehow use the Heroic client to act as a buffer for the EA games that are bought on steam where it claims a 3rd party client is needed ?No.
3 Likes, Who?
fearnflavio Dec 3, 2021
Yes, I grabbed Battlefront 2 while it was free on Epic, but the game didn't even show up in Heroic.. do you have to run a separate client among the Heroic launcher to play games from the EA store ? i.e Heroic downloads the game but then installs the actual client in wine?
If I remember correctly heroic doesn't support origin. When you grab a EA gale it'll show up on your origin account, and you need to install origin on your own ( which is, in my case at least, a painfully experience )
Yes, Legendary implemented this and on next stable version of Heroic it will work as well.
I already started to implement this on it, but next version will bring too much changes, both in features and on the UI so might take some time to release it.
But some things that will be better will be the origin integration, the Login flow, a totally new design, and also a feature when you could add any Game or Software and run with it, similar to Lutris but you will be able to use Proton as well for that.
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why should i use a closed source client, when there are 2 open source alternatives?Because the closed-source store is better?
I'm not saying that it is in this case (last I checked, original EGS was not very good), but that would definitely be a very valid reason.
Using open source just because it is open source is pointless - it actually has be good software in order to improve your experience.
i dont see how it can be any better. heroic can download update and run games
i really dont need more. when i browse the shop i do it in a browser because it is faster and has tabs
even cloud save works with heroic.
in general you are right, but i was talking about epic
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Using open source just because it is open source is pointless - it actually has be good software in order to improve your experience.Using open source just because it is open source may not have enough direct benefit to make up for software that is bad for your particular use case, but it's not pointless.
So for instance, if an open source offering is in relatively early development, but shows the clear potential to end up better than closed source offerings, there is some benefit to using it, even submitting bug reports etc., in hopes that this will be some small help towards it realizing its potential and ending up being the software you want in the future. This could also have the secondary benefit of improving the general Linux software ecosystem, which in turn reduces the barriers to switching and increases the potential for Linux growth, which in turn has benefits . . . virtuous cycle.
There is also some point to using open source "just because it is open source" in that open source software is in various ways more future-proofed. The closed source company may fold, jack up its prices, try to move to Software as a Service, start to insist on your saved data going to the cloud or some dang thing. Those things won't generally happen to open source software. This might not be enough reason to use software that's inferior, but I'd say it certainly means that if all else is equal, pick the open source.
And let's not forget, "good" is a matter of use case. If the open source software is inferior, but you don't use any of the features it lacks, then for you it's just as good and you might as well use it. For example, LibreOffice is still in many ways not as good as MS Office . . . but for me it's actually better, because I don't use the extra MS Office features and I hate the Ribbon.
Open source software also tends to be free of charge, whereas closed source software tends to cost either $$$ or at least have ads or spy on you.
All that and I haven't even mentioned ideology. So yeah, there are reasons to use open source just because it's open source.
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I'd say it certainly means that if all else is equal, pick the open source.Basically what every argument boils down to.
And that's generally true, of course, but it's also a very strict requirement. The only reason you'd use an inferior product (as in, inferior for your use case) just because X is ideology - or you are on a shoestring budget, which I'd also consider fair enough.
Take Linux itself.
I realize the advantages it has from being open source, but the reason I'm using it is not that or privacy or the cost factor. All of these are welcome (or I don't care), but the major reason is that it simply works much better (or on par with Windows, e.g. for gaming) for everything I want to do with it.
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