Steam Deck orders will start shipping soon, but you might still have some lingering questions about Valve’s impending handheld. Valve might already be reviewing the entire Steam library for compatibility, but what about other digital storefronts like GOG?
The short answer is no. Steam and GOG are competitors, so it makes perfect sense that Valve wouldn’t allow it on the Steam Deck. However, the device is just a portable PC at the end of the day, and as such, you can install Windows yourself and run GOG games that way. The company confirmed as much when asked about official support on Twitter.
Likewise, don’t expect to see the Epic Games Store in any official capacity on Steam Deck, although you’d ostensibly be able to install it to Windows in the same fashion as GOG. Fortnite specifically won’t be natively playable on the device, but that’s due to uncertainty around cheating, according to Epic CEO Tim Sweeney. Still, the list of verified games for Steam Deck is already massive — it’s nearing 400 as of the time of this writing.
Unverified games will also run on the handheld, it seems. Due to the open architecture, emulation software is also usable through the Windows installation method. GameCube and Wii emulator Dolphin has already been show running on the Steam Deck.
