In a really surprising move the developers behind Decky Loader plugin Junk Store, which provides the ability to install games from GOG and Epic Games, are bringing the plugin to Steam officially.
This is a special new release just for the Steam Deck, and seems to indicate that Valve are open to having Steam Deck plugins available directly like this. Especially nice for all the people claiming free games (or buying) from the Epic Games Store and GOG.
It will not be free and open source like the Decky Loader plugin though, as confirmed in a Reddit announcement, due to the work involved in re-writing it for a Steam release. A price has not been decided on it yet as they gauge interest. However, the existing plugin will remain. The developers said they plan to keep expanding it and hopefully add support for more stores too.
That is, if Valve do actually give it the true nod of approval once the Junk Store developers are ready to put it live. Valve has at least approved the Steam store page, so it it has at least passed the initial stage but it could still end up catching more attention and end up not being approved - this will be quite a test for Valve too. Just how open is Steam really on what it will allow?
Main features:
- Engineered specifically for Game Mode. Once installed you can download and launch games without needing to go into Desktop Mode.
- Junk Store utilises the Steam-native interface for managing games, allowing Steam to handle most of the process.
- Junk Store leverages Steam's built-in functionality to manage Proton prefixes.
- You can use the QAM to adjust per game Proton settings such as FPS limiting, etc.
- It is extensible! You can write whatever you want for Junk Store integrations if you have the skill. You don't need to wait on anyone else to add features or store front integrations.
- Currently we have integrated support for Epic and Gog Games that ships with Junk Store.
- Epic achievements and EOS overlay are functional for games that support this feature (however, there is no playtime tracking).
Compatibility with other stores is a common complaint with the Steam Deck. You are able to go into Desktop Mode and install whatever you want, but the convenience of having something directly on Steam will be nice.
You can wishlist it on Steam.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Quoting: LinasWow, this is a big can of worms to open.
If they allow software that changes the behavior of Steam (e.g. plugins) on the store itself, it would surely open up a lot of possibilities, but also ripe for abuse.
I would hate to see Steam become this:
Ah yes... The Golden Age.
I used to use it on PC, but since Steam overlay works in normal mode now, and I don't have to switch to Big Picture mode every time, I stopped using Decky Loader. And there were a few plugins I used.
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