Today I am going to take the opportunity to introduce Heroic Games Launcherone of the most interesting alternative video game launcher projects that exist, especially for Linux users, although in reality and officially it is a multiplatform 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, while facing the public claims to defend open platforms, refuses when push comes to shove to support the only great desktop operating system that is open by design, and that is, although the Open Platform was an attempt to put the label “Open” even on the stones, in the end the creators of the concept themselves have had no choice but to accept reality: Windows and macOS are not open by design, but because Microsoft and Apple open the hand.
Leaving aside the contradictions of the CEO of Epic Games and returning to the topic that really concerns us, Heroic Games Launcher has had a quite interesting evolution. Initially, as I have already said, the objective was to provide support, obviously unofficial, from the Epic Games Store to Linux. That, how could it be otherwise, requires intensive use of Proton because the games from that store are all compiled for Windows.
Since only Steam has taken Linux gaming seriously, the open source system is not supported by almost any other client, so the people behind Heroic Games Launcher decided to expand your horizons and also include Good Old Games (GOG)whose client, GOG Galaxy, only supports Windows and macOS at the desktop level.
Heroic Games Launcher has evolved to become not only the benchmark Epic Games Store client for Linux, but also the best GOG client for that system. Compared to other projects with a similar orientation, it has a more active development, which translates into the faster introduction of new features and the greater effectiveness in resolving errors.
It is important to keep in mind that Heroic Games Launcher is not the only or the first project of its kind, since GOG Galaxy itself aims to unite Steam, Epic Games, Origin and GOG in the same application. Despite this, Heroic Games Launcher may be an alternative that may be a better fit for Windows and macOS users.
Heroic Games Launcher Basics
Heroic Games Launcher is an app that looks a bit chaotic, but in the end it’s not difficult to use. Its interface consists of a column on the left that gives access to the user’s library, the Epic Games Store and GOG stores as a web browser, the application settings, the display of downloads in progress, the accounts section , accessibility settings, a link to documentation, and, on Linux only, a manager for downloading Wine Glorious Eggroll and Proton Eggroll builds.
On the right side the user has a visualization of the selected option on the left side. The application allows you to set options and parameters for each game, manage accounts and adjust general aspects such as the aesthetic issue and the behavior around minimization and the system tray.
Because the situation of the three supported systems is different, the configuration possibilities differ, so the offered experience 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 Heroic Games Launcher around to minimizing to the taskbar and system tray, auto-updating games, disabling navigation via a controller, and auto-adding games on Steam.
Another feature is the ability to sync with Epic Games Store games that the user has acquired, but in Linux you have to indicate where your official client is located, which must be installed with Wine or Proton. On the other hand, there are a number of basic settings for the behavior of the library.
Differences between Linux and Windows versions
The first and most obvious difference is the support for games. In Linux, as I have already said, Proton is used intensively because the Epic Games Store does not support it. for the open source system, so there is no choice but to use the compilations of the games for Windows and throw Proton. GOG does offer native Linux games, although it is alternatively possible to force them to run through Proton and use the compatibility layer for titles that do not offer native Linux support.
In Windows the situation is more favorable thanks to the fact that all video games are compiled for that system, so the use of a compatibility layer is not necessary, although the need to force compatibility with an old version of Windows or the application of patches to keep alive a game that is a few years old should not be ruled out. Nothing that is not normal.
However, in the build settings for Microsoft’s system, under the “Game Defaults” section, there is also a setting to set a build of Wine or CrossOver, the commercial reimplementation of Wine developed by CodeWeavers.
On the other hand, in the version of Heroic Games Launcher for linux one is the section that allows you to manage Wine versions, which allows you to obtain versions of Wine Glorious Eggroll and Proton Glorious Eggroll (at first it is advisable to pull the second). On the same front and through the Settings it is possible to indicate a personalized path of a Wine or Proton installation.
Continuing with more things for Linux, in the individual configuration of the games the option to activate MangoHud is made available, the open source overlay that shows performance data and that is usually used in the Steam Deck, and the possibility to run a game on integrated or dedicated graphics (Linux’s multi-graphics support is still clearly inferior to Windows’, despite having improved over the years).
When configuring a Windows compiled game from the Linux version of Heroic Games Launcher one sees options related to Wine/Proton performance, the GameMode tool, enabling Easy Anti-Cheat and BattlEye AntiCheat support, as well as access to the Wine and Winetricks settings. It’s important to put attention on GOG game sync on Linux only works with Windows builds of games.
A free software application with a very lively development
Heroic Games Launcher is not an official product, but it makes up for that lack with the fact that it is free software. It’s more, its source code is released under the GPLv3 license, so on that front it offers maximum transparency and thus can be considered as hard-line free software. Of course, Wine, Proton and MangoHUD are published under different licenses and the games, with few exceptions, are proprietary.
One point that the project has in its favor is the fact that its development is alive, so the application is updated with some frequency to fix bugs and add new features. That a piece of software is being actively developed is a good indicator that there are eyes on it, which reinforces the trust that one can place 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 one comes to have installed on the PC, especially considering that the sector of digital video game distribution platforms has fragmented in recent times. . Users who are not convinced by GOG Galaxy have an alternative at their disposal here.
