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DroidDeck 0.5.0 Brings Epic's Launcher, an x86 Steam Client and Linux Games to Android Handhelds

By Jerry VanOster · Oct 18, 2026

DroidDeck, the community project that puts Valve's Steam client in Big Picture mode on Android handhelds and runs Windows games through Valve's ARM64 Proton, got a big update on October 18 with version 0.5.0.

The headline addition is Epic's own Games Launcher for Linux, running under the FEX x86 emulator and signed in with your linked Epic account. Epic games now launch through Steam and the launcher, so they get the same sign-in and online services as on a PC, plus Steam Input and the performance overlay. The project notes that this Epic preview and the ARM setup are outside Epic's listed Linux support.

Epic Games Launcher library grid running inside DroidDeck
Epic's Linux launcher running in DroidDeck, from the 0.5.0 release notes.Image: DroidDeck / GitHub

There's also an optional x86-64 version of Valve's Linux Steam client that runs beside the default ARM64 one, so games with Linux builds, like Team Fortress 2 and Half-Life, can run those builds. x86 Linux games now work under FEX out of the box, and a redesigned GPU drivers page can pick drivers automatically and roll back to the last pair that worked.

DroidDeck Components page with Auto, Matched pair and Mix and match GPU driver modes
The redesigned GPU drivers page, from the 0.5.0 release notes.Image: DroidDeck / GitHub

Performance tweaks include better frame pacing (on a 60Hz AYN Thor, distinct frames rose from about 49.5 to 59.4 a second), prime-core boosting on the Odin 3, and a fix for Android UI flickering on Adreno 740 devices like the Thor and Odin 2 Portal. It needs Android 9 or newer on an Adreno 730 or newer (or 8xx) GPU, and no root. The developers say there's no standalone DroidDeck website, so only download it from their GitHub releases.

Source: DroidDeck 0.5.0 release notes on GitHub, DroidDeck on GitHub

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