I recently got myself a Steam Deck and was excited to try out some free games I got over the years from my Amazon Prime subscription. However, I quickly realized that the Amazon app was not compatible with SteamOS on the Steam Deck. Determined to find a solution, I did some research and found a workaround using the Lutris tool.
Step 1: Switch to Desktop Mode
To begin, I pressed the Steam button on my Steam Deck and selected “Power.” From there, I chose “Desktop mode” to switch to the desktop interface.
Step 2: Install and Configure Lutris
Next, I needed to install Lutris if it wasn’t already installed on my Steam Deck. I opened the Discover app and downloaded the latest version of Lutris. Then, I added it to my list of sources by opening the preferences menu in the Discover app, selecting “Sources,” and toggling on “Amazon Prime Gaming.”
Step 3: Login to Amazon Prime Gaming
With Lutris now configured for Amazon Prime Gaming, I clicked on the little figure icon to log in with my Amazon account. After signing in, there was a brief wait while Lutris retrieved my information and scanned for my games.
Step 4: Install and Play Games
Once Lutris finished retrieving my game information, I was able to browse and install the games available through Amazon Prime Gaming. I selected my desired game, clicked “Continue” several times, and the game began to install.
It’s important to note that not all games will work with Wine or Proton (intermediary layers for running Windows apps on Linux). However, many games available through Prime Gaming are likely compatible.
Playing Amazon Prime Games in Steam Deck’s Gaming Mode
To play the Amazon Prime games in Steam Deck’s Gaming Mode, I switched back to the desktop mode and launched Steam. From there, I clicked on the plus button in the bottom corner and selected “add non-Steam game”.
This prompted me to search for the ‘.exe’ file that Lutris had installed. I made sure to change the drop-down menu to ‘All Files’ and navigated to the default folder (for example, ~/Deck/Games/amazon/) where Lutris had installed the game. I selected the ‘.exe’ file and added it to my Steam library as a non-Steam game.
Before launching the game in Steam Deck’s Gaming Mode, I went into the game’s settings and enabled Proton compatibility. Finally, I was able to enjoy my Amazon Prime games on my Steam Deck!
Note: If you have existing save files, it’s important to continue playing in desktop mode. Proton won’t recognize Wine or any other save files unless you manually copy them in after launching the game for the first time.
