Junk Store Is Coming Back With New Features As A Closed-Source, Paid Software

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I have talked about some of the best ways to install and enjoy Epic and GOG games on the Steam Deck, and Junk Store is probably one of the easiest versions to use. It started out as a Decky Loader plugin where you could go to a screen in Game Mode to install games from Epic and GOG, getting rid of any need to go to Desktop mode. It's a fantastic plugin that I would still consider one of the best on the Decky store. However, after the developer tried to get Junk Store on the Steam store and it was rejected, there was some silence about where the plugin would head next. That silence has now been broken, and we have a new announcement about the next generation of the Junk Store.

The Junk Store has been completely rebuilt to make sure it can run without Decky, making it a completely independent application. It will be able to generate extensions for you with minimal lines of code, as well as have new features like DLC selection, installing game dependencies (no more protontricks), GOG support for DOSBox and ScummVM games, experimental support for cloud saves, tons of new options, and a more optimized and faster interface.

While this is an awesome development, it also means Junk Store will be going completely paid and fully closed source. This has resulted in mixed reactions in the past, especially with the community, and we will most likely have a similar response now. Junk Store started as a free, open-source plugin, and while it makes sense that after spending thousands of hours of work, one would want compensation, it still could ruffle some feathers. In fact, we have seen some comments on the Lemmy and Reddit posts about the announcement regarding this as well.

There is no finalized price yet, but it's going to be critical that they find a balance. This is a completely remade version of the store to run independently, but with the same core functionality. I would like to see Junk Store really push out what is new and showcase it effectively to justify the move.

I have asked if the free plugin will continue to get support after this has launched, and it sounds like it won't be getting as much attention. Issues will be fixed when brought up, and support channels for the plugin will still be available, but the resources they have will be prioritized towards paid customers. A lot of what the team is working on can only be used with the closed-source version, so the plugin will not see as much action.

The Junk Store team is also accepting tester/early access registrations to get their application working as well as possible. They mention that this is more of a soft launch, instead of deeper testing very early on. You can register by filling out the Google Doc for it.

I am looking forward to hearing more about this new generation of Junk Store as it gets developed and seeing for myself just how different it is from the plugin. I know about what the team was trying to do before, so if they were successful in implementing it, this could be a really great application. I just hope it is enough to justify the price tag and move to closed source.

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