Steam Deck is a popular handheld gaming PC that allows you to play games on the go. It encroaches on the territory of the Nintendo Switch and is essentially a very useful device. It also has power similar to that of a moderately specced PC and allows you to play most desktop games available on Steam. However, it also comes with the various bugs and issues associated with traditional PCs. Since it is based on SteamOS, getting games that are not on Steam to run on this device is a stretch. To counter this, launchers such as Heroic exist. Although the launcher is quite popular in the Steam Deck community, a bunch of players have reported an issue with the Heroic Launcher where it doesn’t launch games and just stops working. If you are encountering the same, here’s everything you need to know.
The Heroic Launcher is a middleman launcher that allows you to play games from other launchers and integrate them with Steam. Games that are on the Epic Games Store, for example, can be accessed through the Heroic launcher on the Steam Deck. While it is not perfect, it is currently the only way to prevent multiple launcher installs on your Steam Deck. Without this launcher, you would be forced to individually install all the launchers and get them to work. However, every software comes with its own share of bugs and the Heroic launcher isn’t an exception.
Heroic games launcher on Steam Deck not working & launching games: How to fix it?
The Heroic Launcher really makes running games on the Steam Deck a lot easier. You can play games that are not natively on Steam using an integrated and connected launcher. The entire thing becomes complicated when it refuses to work, though. Since the Steam Deck is not Windows-based and runs on SteamOS, you need to do some tinkering to get it to work.
While there are no official fixes to this issue, users have managed to find some solutions and circumvent it. Most of them require you to boot into desktop mode and tinker various settings, but there are some workarounds that don’t require you to do so. Here are some of the effective workarounds:
1). Change the username on other launchers
There was one user who had an unsupported character (commonly ! or @) in their EGS username. This was causing the issue for them. When they changed their username to use only Steam-supported characters, the Heroic Launcher worked as intended. So, check the same, and if you find any special characters in your EGS or any other launcher’s username, make sure to change it, and then launch the Heroic launcher.
2). Launch game using the .exe
This is another simple solution to this issue. Open up Heroic Launcher and head to the game settings. Now, go to the install location of the game from here and click the .exe of the game itself. The game should now launch using the Heroic Launcher interface. While this is a long and drawn-out method, until it is officially addressed, this seems to be the best method.
3). Disable Steam Run Time
According to one user, disabling Steam Run Time also solves any issues you are having with the Heroic Launcher. This is also worth a try since it is a straightforward solution to the issue. So, head over to the game on the launcher, and uncheck the Steam Run Time option.
4). Log out
If the issue persists, consider logging out of your Heroic Launcher/EGS launcher account and then logging back in. Doing so has fixed the issue for many, so you must try it.
5). Use Desktop Mode
Much of the issue with the Heroic Launcher seems to be with the mode of operation. While it does run fine in Desktop mode, it does not in game mode. The easy solution to this issue is to simply boot the system into desktop mode and enjoy the game that way. Since you can play in Desktop mode as well, you can use the launcher to play the game in desktop mode before booting back into game mode. Make sure to uncheck the Use Game Mode option in the Heroic Launcher.
6). Reinstall Heroic
If none of these solutions work, your best bet is to reinstall the launcher and try again. Since this has also worked for a lot of users, it is worth a try.
7). Use Terminal
Realistically, nobody knows exactly why. However, using the Terminal on the Steam Deck to launch the Heroic Launcher might fix the issue. To do this, follow these steps:
- First, switch to Desktop Mode.
- Next, head over to Dolphin (file browser) and navigate to the folder where your game.sh files are located. This is usually in the following directory: (HeroicBashLauncher/GameFiles. Once here, right-click the game.sh file, select the Open Terminal option, and type the following command: ‘./game_name.sh’.
- This should launch the game.
Well, now you know how to deal with the Heroic Launcher not working and not opening games on the Steam Deck issue. If you found this guide helpful and would like to read more, make sure to visit Android Gram for more.
