Another launcher – EA app is replacing Origin – so we will go through installing EA app on Steam Deck

Here is official statement from EA on replacing Origin – https://www.ea.com/en-gb/news/ea-app

This one will be exactly the same as GOG Galaxy and EPIC, however -we will go through it. Maybe not in such details as with GOG, but all the steps will be here.

If you are missing something – please check my GOG Launcher install guide. There is also guide about installing and uninstalling games on GOG, so you may check that out also.

There are some things worth repeating:

Be aware that I cannot be responsible for any damage you do following this guide – be sure to have backups of your saves and games. I cannot take responsibility for any kind of damage!

Here is a resource on how to check if game is playable on Steam Deck. Not all games work with Steam Deck, and not all games work out of the box – so it is worth checking the status of game support for Steam Deck – especially if you are buying game, and doing it only for Steam Deck.

Quick help if you are really new to Steam Deck (things that you will need here)

How to get to Desktop Mode on Steam Deck

How to get on-screen keyboard on Steam Deck

How to navigate Desktop Mode with Steam Deck

Steam Deck File System Basic – How to navigate File Manager

For this guide I recommend you use keyboard and mouse – it is doable on Steam Deck, but it will be more comfortable with mouse and keyboard.

What is the reason I should have launcher installed?

Mainly cloud saves and game updates.

Preparing Installation

On EA app main site – https://www.ea.com/ea-app on the main screen there is a button on the middle of the page that says – Download the EA app

Press it and let the download finish. By default downloaded installer will be in Downloads folder.

Preparing Steam Client

We now need to add downloaded EAappinstaller.exe to the Steam Client – so we can start installation.

Press ADD A GAME at the bottom left of the Steam Client – click on Add a Non-Steam Game… | Press BROWSE… | Under File Type: select All Files | Navigate to the folder where EAappinstaller.exe is, select it and press OPEN

EAappinstaller.exe should be selected | Press ADD SELECTED PROGRAMS

Now EAappinstaller.exe is in Steam Client | Press Manage (little cog icon) and select Properties

Under SHORTCUT sidebar menu, we now won’t touch anything – we will later return here, but we will now leave it as it is. Only option under SHORTCUT sidebar menu you will wish to change is LAUNCH OPTIONS – if you want to install this on MicroSD, you will need the command below.

STEAM_COMPAT_MOUNTS=/run/media/mmcblk0p1/ %command%

I will leave that empty, since I will install on my main drive inside Steam Deck.

Under COMPATIBILITY sidebar menu, we will select “Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool” and will select latest Proton. Proton helps us run Windows software in Linux.

At the time of writing (middle of January 2023) EA app with start with GE-Proton7-43. Regular Proton7.0-5 won-t work (blank login screen).

Close the window when you are done.

Installation

Now, after we are done with configuration, we will start installation of Launcher by pressing Play.

Be patient after you press Play

Let’s go

Doing something…

I got login screen. I will try my Origin account

Looks like it works

It works, and now I will close it, we need to convert our .exe from installation to app.

Be sure to close your app – it will minimise to system tray!!

We now need to change our Steam Client shortcut from installer to program executable.

First we are going to our File Manager – we need to navigate to our Compatdata folder (see links for the File Manager at the beginning if you are not familiar with term).

Last Folder I created was 15 minutes ago – that is my EAapp install

Navigate to EA Desktop (can be seen in screenshot) – select EADesktop.exe and right click on it – select “Copy Location”

We will now again go back to our Steam Client EAappinstaller.exe item and again press Manage (little cog icon) and select Properties

On SHORTCUT sidebar menu, select Browse – in “File name” by pressing Control + V on the keyboard (right click with mouse won’t work, it’s a bug) paste the path you copied earlier. Under “File type” select All Files – click on OPEN

I will also change name of the shortcut to “Ubisoft Connect” and check that target has full path (including) UbisoftConnect.exe. Start in should only have full path, without exe.

COMPATIBILITY sidebar menu should be left as we initially set it – with Proton enabled.

This is optional and will give you mouse access in app interface- Before we run our app, we can do one more thing- right click on your app shortcut in steam library – select Manage | click on Controller layout (you can do this, are you can select some other type on controller layout)