SteamOS is now officially on the list of Linux distributions Epic Games plans to support with its new Epic Games Launcher. In a statement to GamingOnLinux, Epic communications director Jake Jones said the launcher is still in Preview, and that Epic plans to "support as many Linux distributions as...
And this is why I go to GoG for older games, because this is exactly how they handle packaging such games. That, or they tweak them for modern needs.
I realize this isn’t very helpful for people with a 20±year-old Steam library, but it’s a decent way to try to handle the problem if you’re looking for older games today
GOG has done a bit better recently, but they have their own issues. For the longest time neither of the baldur’s gate enhanced editions worked on newer linux distros. They were built against Ubuntu 22.10. This would be fine, but they did not ship the libraries from Ubuntu 22.10. So the easiest way to run these linux native games were download random libraries online and pop them in, which is actually dangerous or run it through steam, or download all of the linux runtimes through steam and copy over or symlink the close-enough versions that the game is expecting.
Which is a ridiculous set of circumstances to go through for a remake of an older game that runs on every single windows version on every single piece of hardware that supports windows past XP.
Again they’ve gotten a bit better, but if you do get GOG games on linux, you will want to start a little folder to collect the random libraries you’ll need for when the team and the publisher just outright forget to include one or two libraries because they thought they weren’t updated enough for it to matter.
Yeah, their Linux support is relatively new-ish, so I expect a slightly bumpy road for a little while before it all gets smoothed out. Such is life.
It’s just that their focus on getting older games to run properly - generally speaking -it’s a lot better than Steam’s