Today I will take the opportunity to introduce myself Heroic Games Launcherone of the most interesting alternative video game launcher projects out there, especially for Linux users, although in reality and officially it is a cross-platform development that also offers support for Windows and macOS.

Heroic Games Launcher was originally born as an attempt to support Linux from the Epic Games Store. The company led by Tim Sweeney, despite facing public demands to defend open platforms, in the moment of truth refuses to support the only great desktop operating system that is open by design, even though the open platform was an attempt to label “Open” even on rocks, in the end, the creators of the concept themselves had no choice but to accept reality: Windows and macOS are not open by design, but because Microsoft and Apple open their hand.

Putting aside the contradictions of the CEO of Epic Games and getting back to the topic that really concerns us, the Heroic Games Launcher has had quite an interesting development. At first, as I said before, the goal was to provide support, apparently unofficial, from the Epic Games Store to Linux. How could it be otherwise requires heavy use of Proton, as all games from this store are compiled for Windows.

Since only Steam takes Linux gaming seriously, the open source system is not supported by almost any other client, so the people behind Heroic Games Launcher expand your horizons to include good old games (GOG) toowhose client, GOG Galaxy, only supports Windows and macOS at the desktop level.

Heroic Games Launcher has evolved to become not only the reference Epic Games Store client for Linux, but also the best GOG client for the system. Compared to other projects of a similar focus, it has more active development, which translates into faster introduction of new functions and greater efficiency in solving errors.

It’s important to keep in mind that Heroic Games Launcher isn’t the only or first project of its kind, as GOG Galaxy itself aims to unify Steam, Epic Games, Origin and GOG in the same app. Despite this, Heroic Games Launcher may be an alternative that may be more suitable for Windows and macOS users.

Heroic Games Launcher Basics

Heroic Games Launcher is an app that looks a little messy, but as a result, it’s not difficult to use. Its interface consists of a column on the left that allows access to the user’s library, Epic Games Store and GOG stores as a web browser, app settings, view downloads in progress, accounts section, accessibility settings, link to documentation, and only on Linux a manager to download builds Wine Glorious Eggroll and Proton Eggroll.

On the right side, the user has a visualization of the selected option on the left side. Application allows you to set options and parameters for each game, manage accounts and adjust general aspects such as aesthetic issue and behavior around minimize and system tray.

Since the situation of the three supported systems is different, the configuration options are also different, so the experience offered is not symmetrical between Windows, Linux and macOS.

Aspects of Heroic Games Launcher settings

Through the Settings section, it is possible to configure many aspects of the configuration, starting with the aesthetic theme and continuing with the default installation path of the games, the path where the Steam installation is located, the behavior of the Heroic Games Launcher around to minimizing to the main panel and the system panel, automatic game updates, disabling navigation with drivers and automatically adding games on Steam.

Another feature is the ability sync with Epic Games Store games which the user got, but on Linux you have to specify where your official client is located, which must be installed with Wine or Proton. On the other hand, there are a number of basic library behavior settings.

Differences between Linux and Windows versions

The first and most obvious difference is game support. On Linux, as I said before, Proton is heavily used because the Epic Games Store doesn’t support it. for an open source system, so all you have to do is use Windows game compilations and throw in Proton. GOG offers native Linux games, although alternatively it’s possible to force them to run through Proton and use the compatibility layer for titles that don’t offer native Linux support.

In Windows, the situation is more favorable due to the fact that all video games are compiled for this system, so using a compatibility layer isn’t necessary, although forcing compatibility with an old version of Windows or applying patches to keep a few-year-old game alive shouldn’t be ruled out. Nothing out of the ordinary.

However, there is also a setting in Microsoft’s build settings under “Default Game Settings” to set Wine or CrossOver, a commercial reimplementation of Wine developed by CodeWeavers.

On the other hand, in the Heroic Games Launcher pro version linux once is a section that allows you to manage Wine versions, which allows you to get Wine Glorious Eggroll and Proton Glorious Eggroll versions (it is advisable to pull the second one first). On the same front and through Settings, it is possible to mark a personalized Wine or Proton installation path.

Moving on to other things for Linux, in the individual configuration of games is made available the option to activate MangoHud, an open source overlay that displays performance data, which is usually used in the Steam Deck, and the option to run the game on integrated or dedicated graphics (multiple graphics support (Linux support is still clearly worse than Windows support, although it has improved over the years).

When configuring a game compiled for Windows from the Linux version of the Heroic Games Launcher, you’ll see options related to Wine/Proton performance, a GameMode tool that enables Easy Anti-Cheat and BattlEye AntiCheat support, as well as access to Wine and Winetricks settings. It is important to pay attention GOG game sync on Linux only works with Windows game builds.

A free software application with very lively development

Heroic Games Launcher is not an official product, but it makes up for this lack by being free software. it’s more its source code is released under the GPLv3 license, so it offers maximum transparency on this front and can therefore be considered free software with a fixed line. Of course, Wine, Proton and MangoHUD are released under different licenses and the games are proprietary with some exceptions.

One point in the project’s favor is the fact that its development is live, so the app is updated with some frequency to fix bugs and add new features. The fact that certain software is actively being developed is a good indicator that someone is looking at it, which reinforces the confidence that can be placed in it. This has an impact on aspects such as security, which in this case, since it is not an official product, is even more important.

Conclusion

Heroic Games Launcher is not a panacea, but it can be an alternative to reduce the outrageous number of applications that are installed on the PC, especially considering that the digital video game distribution platform sector has fragmented recently. Users who are not convinced by GOG Galaxy have an alternative available here.