How to get your Steam Deck to access the Epic Games Store and more

theverge.com:

Steam may certainly have the lion’s share when it comes to building a library of PC games, but why would you leave yourself stranded in Valve’s ecosystem when there are mountains of free games and sales on the Epic Games Store and other platforms? For instance, in 2021, the Epic Games Store gave away 89 free games, and GOG is adding new games to its free library all the time.If you had EGS and GOG on your Steam Deck, you could alsocash in on all the extra sales that you’d otherwise be missing.

Integrating these stores requires a bit of upfront leg work, but it’s totally possible andcan pay big dividends if you’re looking to expand the library of your new handheld. Besides, everyone knows that paying full price for games is for suckers.

Ready to begin?You’ll need an internet connection to make this happen, and while you could navigate the Steam Deck’s interface with its on-screen keyboard and trackpads, you can make this process much easier by grabbing a dedicated keyboard and mouse to navigate menus and type in logins and passwords. We’d recommend using Bluetooth accessories, but if you want to use wired peripherals, you’ll need a USB-C hub as well.

Just in case you find yourself without a mouse or keyboard close at hand, here are a few commands for your Steam Deck that you should frankly just memorize to make your life easier; just hold down the Steam or “...” button along with the inputs you’ll see below.

Steam+X = Bring up on-screen keyboard

Steam + Left / Right Trackpad = Force trackpad input

Steam+B = Force program shutdown (in gaming mode)

You can also copy and paste commands on the Deck itself by selecting the text with a click and swipe of your right trackpad, then a click of the left trackpad to pull up a