How to Play Epic, GOG, Battle.net, and Other Non-Steam Games on Steam Machine

Start with Heroic for Epic, GOG, or Amazon games. For Battle.net, EA, or Ubisoft, compare NonSteamLaunchers' automated setup with Lutris's more manual, per-game control. Store coverage does not guarantee that every game works on SteamOS.

Pick by store, not by tool

How they actually differ

Heroic is a native Linux application that replaces the store client. Its official feature list covers Epic, GOG, and Amazon access, imports, Proton or Wine selection, and cloud-save synchronization where supported. It handles those stores through their APIs; a game can still have additional launcher or compatibility requirements.

NonSteamLaunchers installs the Windows store clients under Proton and adds Steam shortcuts. Its project README documents launcher installation, shortcut scanning, separate App IDs, and save-backup behavior.

Lutris manages Wine environments and runs community-maintained installer scripts. Its coverage includes Battle.net, Epic, GOG, EA, Ubisoft, other stores, and emulators. It gives you per-game control, with more configuration to maintain.

Heroic Games Launcher

Install from Discover in Desktop Mode. Search Heroic, install, done.

Stores: Epic Games Store, GOG, Amazon Games, plus ZOOM Platform as an experimental Linux-only addition.

What makes it the default recommendation for those three stores:

• Built-in Wine and Proton management, so you are not hunting for compatibility layers
• Login through Epic's official OAuth flow, credentials go to Epic rather than to Heroic
• Per-game cloud saves where the underlying store supports them
• An Import feature that points at an existing install folder instead of forcing a multi-gigabyte re-download
• A three-dot menu Add to Steam option that creates the shortcut with the right Proton runtime already configured

The Steam shortcut is useful on a living-room device. Test both the game and its menus in Gaming Mode; a working shortcut does not guarantee controller-friendly sign-in or launcher screens.

Heroic continues to publish releases, but version numbers move quickly. Check the current release list before following a version-specific troubleshooting step.

NonSteamLaunchers

Use NonSteamLaunchers for Battle.net, EA App, or Ubisoft Connect when you want the Windows launchers installed under Proton and added to Gaming Mode automatically.

It installs launchers under a single shared Proton prefix by default and registers them in your Steam library. Supported launchers include Battle.net, Epic, GOG Galaxy, Ubisoft Connect, EA App, Amazon Games, itch.io, Rockstar Games Launcher, Humble Games Collection, IndieGala, Legacy Games, Glyph, VK Play, and HoYoPlay. It also handles cloud and streaming services including GeForce NOW, Xbox Game Pass, Amazon Luna, and Boosteroid.

There are two install paths: a Desktop Mode script and a Quick Access Menu plugin. The plugin requires Decky Loader, whose Steam Machine support is not official. Read that guide's support limits before choosing the plugin. The Desktop Mode guide explains local administrator passwords if an installer requests one.

Two settings affect how NSL installs and maintains launchers:

Separate App IDs puts each launcher in its own Proton prefix instead of sharing one. Sharing uses less space, while separate prefixes reduce the chance that one launcher's changes affect another. They do not isolate shared Proton builds, SteamOS updates, or store outages.

The background scanner detects games you install inside those launchers and automatically adds them to Steam as non-Steam entries with artwork. This avoids adding each game and its artwork to Steam by hand.

NSL documents automatic save backups to a dedicated folder. Check that your game's files are present before relying on that backup or removing a prefix.

Lutris

The most capable and the most manual.

Direct library integration for Steam, Epic, GOG, and Humble Bundle. Beyond that, an installer script database covering EA, Battle.net, Ubisoft Connect, Amazon, itch.io, and a long tail of others. Community scripts handle the Wine prefix setup per title rather than per store, which is why coverage is broader and results vary more.

It is also an emulator frontend, managing Wine alongside MAME, Dolphin, RetroArch, and ScummVM. A single Lutris library can hold an Epic release, a Battle.net MMO, and a console ROM.

Choose Lutris when you want emulation and non-Steam stores in one place, when a specific game has a maintained Lutris install script that solves a problem the other tools do not, or when you want per-game control over the compatibility layer.

For a straightforward Battle.net install, NSL's automation may be a better starting point. Neither tool guarantees that a particular game will work.

The anti-cheat problem

None of these tools solve it. Valve's Proton guidance makes the same distinction: anti-cheat support depends on the game and vendor, not the launcher you use.

Games using kernel-level anti-cheat generally do not run under Wine or Proton at all. That is a decision made by the anti-cheat vendor, not a limitation any launcher can engineer around. Fortnite is the most-asked example and it does not work.

Check before you plan around a specific game. This is not a "try a different Proton build" situation.

Getting them into Gaming Mode

Whichever tool you use, the end state is the same: launchers and games appearing in your Steam library so a controller can reach them from the couch.

• Heroic: three-dot menu on any game, Add to Steam
• NSL: automatic, the scanner handles it
• Lutris: add Lutris itself as a non-Steam game via Steam's Add a Non-Steam Game dialog

Steam's Add a Non-Steam Game dialog is a manual shortcut option for applications it can launch. Adding a shortcut does not supply missing compatibility or controller support.

Can you use more than one

Yes, and there is a reasonable case for it. Heroic for Epic, GOG, and Amazon because it handles those best, NSL for Battle.net and EA because Heroic cannot.

When comparing the same game across tools, record the Proton or Wine version each uses. A different runtime is another possible explanation for a different result; match versions where supported before blaming the launcher.

Game-specific compatibility limits

The confirmed scope is the store and launcher workflows documented by Heroic, Lutris, and NonSteamLaunchers. The table is a tool-selection guide, not a promise that every title or every launcher update will work on Steam Machine. Anti-cheat, account requirements, launcher updates, and per-game Proton behavior still need to be checked for the specific game you want to play.