Valve Removes App Form Steam That Allows Access to Epic Games Store and GOG on Steam Deck

Source: Team Fortress 2 / Valve Corporation.

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Valve has withdrawn from Steam an application that would have allowed for the installation of games from outside this store on the Steam Deck. As spotted by SteamHQ, Junky Store's tab on the platform has been quietly removed. The team confirmed this in a thread posted on Reddit.

The program was a commercial version of a free plugin of the same name, and both releases offered a similar function - the ability to install games from Epic Games Store on the Steam Deck. The differences included: support for games purchased on GOG.com (although this option was supposed to be added to the free version sooner or later), and above all, installation without the need to switch to desktop mode, and of course, the price. This last one was supposed to enable the creators to "take Junky Store to a new level".

In the announcement heralding the debut on Steam, it was stated that the team is waiting for Valve to thoroughly review the application. Indeed, even at that point one of the company's employees had already evaluated Junky Store's card and gave the creators permission for a Steam debut, but it was not an official decision.

Apparently Valve has ultimately decided that Steam cannot accommodate Junky Store and sees no way to do so in the future. The reason is very simple: the application would modify Steam, and this opens the door for potentially dangerous programs. So, although Valve does not condemn the intentions of the creators, the debut of this type of extension was considered potentially risky.

Valve's first response with information on card removal Junky Store (Junky Store card) from Steam. Source: Junky Store / Reddit.

This does not mean that Junky Store has become unavailable for players. Indeed, the team responsible for the application took a "break" (and it's hard to blame them), but the plugin remains available for download from the official team's website.