Quick answer: RecompLauncher is a new free catalog of more than 200 fan-made recompiled and decompiled console game ports for Windows, Linux and macOS. Separately, an unofficial Metroid Dread recomp reached v0.4.0. Both need your own legally owned copy of the game.
Fan-made native PC ports of console games now have a website to keep track of them. RecompLauncher launched with a catalog of more than 200 recompiled and decompiled ports for Windows, Linux and macOS, VideoCardz reports. The list includes projects for Majora's Mask, Ocarina of Time, Sonic Unleashed, The Wind Waker HD, Fable II and Bloodborne, though not every listed game is finished or playable yet.
Static recompilation translates a console game's code into a native program, so there's no traditional emulator in between. VideoCardz notes many of these projects add higher resolutions, widescreen support and unlocked frame rates. Linux is one of the supported platforms, and that's what SteamOS on the Steam Deck is built on.
Despite the name, there's no launcher yet. For now the site is a directory that points to each project's own page, with filters by console and genre. A free desktop app that installs, updates and configures the ports is planned. It comes from the team behind RecompStore, a homebrew store for jailbroken PS5 consoles, and was announced on Reddit on October 26, Notebookcheck says. Quiver Launcher already offers a working app like this.
Separately, an unofficial Metroid Dread recomp reached version 0.4.0 on October 24. It builds a native PC version on your own computer from your own dumped copy of the game with the 2.1.0 update. DSOGaming lists a 60 to 240 FPS frame-rate cap, 16:10 and 21:9 support, OpenGL plus an experimental Vulkan renderer, and shader pre-building to cut stutter. The release is for Windows, and the developer's notes say a Linux and Steam Deck build exists as build scripts in the source code. It's still a work in progress, and the developer credits an AI coding assistant.
No game files are included with any of this. RecompLauncher says every game needs your own legally owned copy, and Notebookcheck points out that recompilation projects can raise copyright concerns.