Update - A reader reported that Epic games using Denuvo DRM may not start when launched from Steam (but still work when a user manually launches the PowerShell script). It’s unclear how widespread this problem is, and if it affects all Denuvo games or just certain ones. Now that we have Epic Games store via Lutris on Linux, simply launch it and log in to your account to get started. But, does it really work? Yes, the Epic Games Store does work. But, all the games don’t. Well, I haven’t tried everything, but I grabbed a free game (Transistor – a turn-based ARPG game) to check if that works.
There are some great games on the Epic Games Store (I personally am a big fan ofTetris Effect). However, Epic’s storefront is less mature, and Epic’s launcherlacks a lot of the comforts we have with Steam (such as Big Picture Mode,In-Home Streaming, etc). However, you can add games from the Epic Games Store toSteam, and even play those games on a Steam Link.
Note: You’ll still need the Epic Game Store application to launch games once thisis up and running. We’re not replacing their launcher, just automating it
To begin, we need a way to launch games purchased through the Epic Games Store.Thankfully, we can take advantage of how Epic itself launches games. Windowsallows programs to register special urls that are opened by specific programs.For example, Zoom meeting links, when clicked in the browser, allow theoperating system to launch Zoom with some additional data about what meeting tojoin. The Epic Games Launcher registers the handler com.epicgames.launcher://,so when a url with this prefix is encountered, the data is sent to the EpicLauncher. The data after the double slash tells the launcher what game to start.
So, to start, we’ll need to get the launch url for our game from the Epic GamesStore. Thankfully, this is included in a shortcut to a game. To get the URL:
- In the Epic Games Launcher, navigate to your library, and find the game you’d like to play on Steam.
- Click on the
...menu near the game, and click ‘Create Shortcut’, this will place a shortcut to the game on your Desktop. - Minimize the Launcher, navigate to the Desktop, and find your new shortcut (it will have the name and icon of the game). Right click on it, and hit ‘Properties’.
- Copy the URL field from the ‘Web Document’ tab and save it somewhere. We’ll need it later.
- You can delete the shortcut at this point.
OK - so we have our URL, we should just be able to go there any launch the game.As you can see in the picture, we’re launching apps/Kiwi, which is Tetris Effect.
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Steam, however, can’t open this type of shortcut directly. And, even if it did,Steam would have no way of knowing if the game was running or not (while youcould launch the game, Big Picture and streaming wouldn’t work). So we’ll needto help it a little bit.
If you’re someone who has a preferred text editor (like Visual Studio Code,Notepad++, Sublime), you can use that for the next step - otherwise, go aheadand launch “Windows PowerShell ISE” from the Start Menu.
In your editor, copy and paste this (we’ll fill in the ‘_HERE’ values in a moment):
Let’s explain what this is doing. It’s:
- Starting the URL (which launches the Epic Games Store, and instructs it to launch the game)
- Waiting for 5 seconds (this gives the Epic Launcher time to start the game)
- Locating the game process that Epic started (for Tetris Effect, this is TetrisEffect)
- Waiting for the program to finish.
By waiting for the game to finish before exitting, we’ve ensured Steam will beable to track our game’s status, and will know when it exits (so it can drop usback in Big Picture).
Replace the URL_HERE with the URL from the shortcut. The PROCESS_NAME_HEREis a bit harder - it’s what you’d see if you brought up Task Manager and lookedfor the game when it’s running. Often this is just the name of the game(it’s ‘TetrisEffect’ for Tetris Effect), but if you’reunsure, go to the folder where your game is installed, and find the exe - it’susually that without the ‘.exe’.
We now have our script that will launch our game, and will keep running untilthe game closes. Save this file with a ‘.ps1’ extension - you name it whateveryou want, but I’d recommend something descriptive. I called mine“launchTetris.ps1”.
Let’s test this out. With the Epic Games Launcher running, right click on thisscript, and hit “Run With Powershell” - it should launch your game.
Now that we have a script, we just need Steam to execute it. Steam can’t executeshortcuts (or scripts) directly - but we’ve just written a PowerShell script, sowe can get Windows PowerShell to run it. So, we just need Steam to runPowerShell, and have PowerShell call our script.
- Click on the Games menu, and click ‘Add a Non-Steam Game to my Library’.
- Click the ‘Browse’ button.
- Navigate to
C:WindowsSystem32WindowsPowerShellv1.0, which is where PowerShell is installed by default on Windows 10. - Select the PowerShell exe.
- Click ‘Add Selected’
Now we’re in the home stretch - we can now launch PowerShell from Steam (itshould be under your game list as ‘powershell’), but we need PowerShell to runour launching script. In your Steam library tab:
- Right-Click on your shortcut (it will have a PowerShell icon), and hit ‘Properties’.
- Gave it a more descriptive name, like the name of your game.
- Under target, paste in
'C:WindowsSystem32WindowsPowerShellv1.0powershell.exe' -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File PATH_TO_SCRIPT - Hit return in the textbox to close the window.
You can get the PATH_TO_SCRIPT by holding down shift, right clicking on thescript you created (the file ending in .ps1), and selecting ‘Copy As Path’, soit should look something like:'C:WindowsSystem32WindowsPowerShellv1.0powershell.exe' -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File 'C:UsersSeanDesktopLaunchTetris.ps1'
Alright - you’re now pretty much ready. Start the Epic Games Store, switch overto Steam, click your newly added entry, and hit Play. If all works as expected,you should have your Epic Game Store running in Steam!
Note: You can also change the icon Steam displays for your game in the Propertiesdialog, though we won’t be covering that here.
Once the game is working in Steam, it will be visible to Steam streaming, so aSteam Link can be used to play games from the Epic Games store (this even workson mobile - you can play games using the Steam Link app). That said, you’llgenerally want to start the Epic Games Store on the machine first, beforelaunching from Steam. While it’s not required, if the store has an update, itmight take longer than 5 seconds to start your game, and then the script willquit before the game starts.
But, at this point, you’re free to play your games wherever you want, from eitherstorefront!
An Addendum For Programmers
If all you want to do is play your games on Steam/SteamLink, you can ignore this, butjust in case someone wants to dig a big more into this…
All of the above works, and, critically, works if you don’t have access to a compiler. Also,when writing this I felt having one script per game makes it easier for non-programmersto check that things are working (they can easily launch their script graphically).
However, we can make a universal launcher pretty easily - just tweak our code to acceptthe URL and the exe name as arguments. Also, if we make an executable, we can have Steamcall it directly, instead of needing to call an interpreter (like PowerShell).
So let’s do that quickly - let’s make a launcher that can accept a game’s URL and name,and then launch it. I’ll use C# here, but really anything that generates an executablewill work just fine.
When you compile this, you’ll get a program that can be called from Steam, and can launchany game. Simply run the compiled code as:
And now you have a universal launcher, that you can directly add to Steam! Just adjust thearguments to change which game is launched.
Update (12/06/2020) - Some people reported that they were unable to get Steam to run thePowerShell script unless there was a -File before the script path in Steam. I’ve updatedthat section accordingly.
Update (02/19/2021) - A reader reported that Epic games usingDenuvo DRM may not start when launchedfrom Steam (but still work when a user manually launches the PowerShell script).It’s unclear how widespread this problem is, and if it affects all Denuvo gamesor just certain ones. H/T to Cygnata for the report.
Related
For gamers, it is not uncommon to hit upon epic games launcher not working errors. For instance, such epic games issues like epic games launcher won’t open, black or white screen, or not loading properly will come up out of blue.
And it is said that once your epic games launcher is broken, you will fail to update epic games like Fortnite via this application as you wish. Especially, for some users, it is just frustrating to encounter epic games not launching games due to the broken epic game launcher.
In this way, there is much need to resolve this epic games launcher stuck issue by following on for solutions. And whatever your error is, be it epic games launcher not opening or opens not loading properly, ways offered below will be useful, just as many gamers reported.
Why is Epic Games Launcher Not Working Correctly?
Epic games launcher is the application used to launch games like Fortnite and Unreal Tournam. Therefore, when this program stops working, you will meet with problems like Fortnite not launching. And when it comes to the culprits causing this issue, the problematic epic games launcher is the most to blame.
Besides, if this application is blocked by any third-party antivirus program, it won’t open and load as usual. And to some extent, the graphics driver should also be held responsible for this error as per reports of some users.
Therefore, no matter you can open epic games launcher or even fail to initiate it, you need to try some solutions to get this game launcher back to work. After that, you won’t be plagued by questions like “why my epic games launcher won’t open?”
Solutions:
Solution 1: Restart Epic Games Launcher
If the game launcher for epic games won’t open or displays in black or white screen, it certainly comes across problems. And now that this program doesn’t respond and gets stuck, you might as well try to end it and launch it again to see if it works.
To end the Epic Games Launcher:
1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open the Task Manager.
2. Find out and right click Epic Games Launcher to End task.
To re-launch Epic Games Launcher:
Double click Epic Games Launcher from the Desktop to start it again.
If lucky, you can see that Epic Games Launcher not launching is fixed and you can use it for games.
Solution 2: Change the display settings
In some cases, you may have altered the scale of size, app, etc. accidentally, which give rise to epi games launcher not working correctly, so just manage to adjust this display setting to ensure it won’t cause epic games launcher white screen or any other issues.
1. Go to Start > Settings > System.
2. Under Display, locate Scale and layout and then Change the size of text, apps, and other items.
3. Here you might as well select the Recommended size like 100%.
Now, you can open the epic games launcher to check if it can be opened and is working properly.
Solution 3: Update the Graphic Driver Automatically
Apart from the display settings, the graphic driver is also a potential reason why the epic games launcher doesn’t work on Windows 10, 8, 7, and Mac. And when the display driver on your device comes to issues, it is likely that epic games launcher white or black screen and not loading will come up.
Therefore, it is worth a shot to ensure your graphics card driver is compatible and going well with Windows 10. To make things easier, you can use a professional and safe driver tool, Driver Booster, to keep the display driver up-to-date automatically. For many users, Driver Booster has become a necessary helper for driver updates and system problem solving.
1. Download, install and run Driver Booster.
2. Hit the Scan button. Then Driver Booster will begin to scan all the device drivers on your PC.
3. In the search result, locate Display adapters and then right click the graphics driver to Update driver by Driver Booster.
Here your graphics driver will be NVIDIA, AMD, or any other brands of the graphics card.
Upon Driver Booster finishing installing the display driver, epic games launcher broken will also be removed.
Solution 4: Remove Epic Games Launcher Caches
If you have used this application for a long time, caches will have been left on Windows 10, 8, 7 or Mac. And to some extent, it is likely that these caches will be corrupted, causing epic games launcher not to run on Windows or Mac systems. Considering this factor, you are supposed to delete the cache of the epic games launcher.
1. Press Windows + R to open the Run box and then input %localappdata% in the box. Then hit Enter to access the cache folder of applications.
2. Scroll down to locate the Web Cache folder of Epic Games Launcher and right click it to Delete it.
Restart epic games launcher and you can notice that this program works well on Windows or Mac. And you will have successfully repaired epic games launcher on your own.
Solution 5: Change Epic Games Launcher Properties
One of the properties of this application will also result in epic games launcher not opening and working error, which is the target field. So you would better try to change this property with the following steps.
1. On the Desktop, right click the shortcut of Epic Games Launcher to open its Properties.
2. In Epic Games Launcher Properties, under Shortcut tab, find out Target and then add –OpenGL in the end of the target field.
3. Hit Apply and OK to save changes.
Reboot Epic Games Launcher to see if it can load as usual. For some users, this solution may be helpful as you won’t come into epic games launcher down issue.
Solution 6: Uninstall third-party antivirus software
If epic games launcher refuses to work right after you installed a third-party program, this program may have recognized the game launcher for epic games as threatening and prohibited it from working. Hence, you may as well get rid of this third-party antivirus program. If possible, you can just allow epic games launcher to run on Windows or Mac in the antivirus software.
1. Open Control Panel.
2. In Control Panel, View by Category and then locate Programs > Uninstall a program.
3. In Programs and Features, right click the third-party antivirus program to Uninstall it.
Restart Windows 10, 8, 7, and then launch epic games launcher to see if it loads and enables you to update games like Fortnite. To some extent, epic games not launching will also be fixed.
Related: How to Disable and Uninstall Avast on Windows 10
Solution 7: Uninstall and Update Epic Games Launcher
Last but not least, if the solutions above failed to help you solve epic games launcher not working on Windows or Mac, you may have to uninstall this problematic gaming software and reinstall it for your device.
To Uninstall Epic Games Launcher:
Go to Control Panel > Programs > uninstall a program > Uninstall. You can refer to Solution 6 to learn detailed steps to uninstall a program on Windows systems.
And here is a tutorial with images you can see: how to uninstall Epic Games Launcher on Windows and Mac.
To Update Epic Games Launcher:
After you removed the epic games launcher with problems, you can download the updated launcher from Epic Games’ official site to download and install a new game launcher if needed.
Just navigate to Epic Games site and then Download Epic Games Launcher.
Does Epic Games Work On Mac
Then extract the downloaded file and install it on your PC. In a large sense, you are free to open and run this program to manage epic games.
Does Epic Games Work On Windows
All in all, to fix epic games launcher not working on Windows 10, 8, 7, or Mac, solutions above are proved rather effective, so you may as well try them one by one to resolve epic games launcher not opening, or not responding, or not loading properly.