Alternative game launchers

While many gamers on Ubuntu happily use Steam, alternative game launchers are sometimes needed.

For example, games purchased on GOG and Humble Bundle do not have dedicated launchers on Ubuntu.

Launcher apps

Two of the most popular alternative launchers that are available as flatpaks are:

• Lutris: the Lutris Flatpak seems to be up to date with releases in the official Lutris repo.
• Heroic launcher: the Heroic Flatpak is recommend. An AppImage is also available.

Playing non-Steam games on steam

There are a few options:

Add as a non-Steam game

Note
In the case of a Windows .exe file, whatever launcher you use will need to use a compatibility layer such as Wine or Proton in the background.

Using alternative launcher

1. Install a game using a launcher such as Heroic,
2. Do Add a Game → Add a Non-Steam Game in Steam
3. Select the installed game.

Directly adding an .exe

1. Download a executable of the game
2. Do Add a Game → Add a Non-Steam Game in Steam
3. Select the executable file

Using a Steam key

1. Copy the Steam key
2. Do Games → Activate a Product on Steam
3. Paste in the Steam key