2d ago

Junk Store 2.0 has released

I saw that no one had shared Junk Store's newly released version '2.0' announcement, so I figured I'd format it for Lemmy and post it here.

Is anyone picking it up? Or trying it out?

Anyway, everything below here is their words that I'm pasting in:

The wait is over! Junk Store 2.0 is now live, and we’re excited for you to try it! You’ve heard the fuss, now you can judge it for yourself. If it’s not for you, no hard feelings; all we ask is that you make up your own mind.

Check it out in action here

Get it here

What is Junk Store 2.0?

Junk Store 2.0 is a fully extensible game launcher designed to help you easily install and manage games from platforms like Epic, GOG, Amazon, and more — all without the hassle of complex workarounds. It’s faster, more stable, and includes a ton of new features to enhance your experience on the Steam Deck.

Try Junk Store 2.0 Now!

We know you’ve been waiting for a faster, more stable, and expanded experience, and Junk Store 2.0 delivers just that. While we continue to scale up some of our supporting systems, we’re offering a 25% discount on your first year if you sign up before the end of the month. Use the code EarlyBird at checkout to take advantage of the savings Learn more here

What Users Are Saying

“Junk Store 2.0 gives me access to dozens of games I already own on platforms I rarely use — without all the convoluted workarounds.” — Anonymous
“JS allows me the freedom to choose stores with better deals, DRM-free options, or freebies — without sacrificing the joy and simplicity of the Steam Deck.” — BadServo
“This is f*ing great and well worth the sub. It’s leagues better than before and blows the Decky Loader version out of the water.” — Zer04evr
“It's the perfect Swiss Army knife for my Deck!” — Tiny Tech

How to Try It?

7-day Free Trial – Try before you buy! If you cancel within the first 7 days, you won’t be charged.
25% off your first year – Discount available until the end of the month.

Why Upgrade?

You’ll still have access to the old version of Junk Store, but we truly believe the new version offers too many improvements to ignore. Whether it's the download queue, the new extension generation tools, or the ability to view up to 1,000 games, this is the future of Junk Store. Check out "What’s New" here

Hear from the Developer:

Hear from the developer himself in this interview with Gardiner Bryant: Watch here
Listen to Gardiner Bryant: Watch it here

We’re Here to Help

Junk Store is a living project. We’re constantly working on improvements, and we need your feedback to make it even better. If you run into any issues, let us know — we’re a small team, but we strive for fast resolutions.

Thank you for your support — Game on!

28 comments

While I love to see new launchers coming to deck and linux, I'll have to pass on this one. I don't see any reason to use it over heroic, and much less considering there is a sub to pay.
I could have considered it if it was a one payment solution, but I really don't want to add another sub to another service to my life.
On a side note, I haven't been present lately on lemmy so I didn't read your latest posts (I'm now giving them a read) but I came across two new posts from you today after you said you were taking a pause in that weekly deck news posts from 3 weeks ago and I just wanted to say that I'm happy you are still writing.
Hope this means you are feeling better! 🙂
- Thanks so much for both reading what I write, and for check in!
  I'm okay, for the most part. The good news is that my kidneys have gotten the all-clear and are totally fine. The not-so-good news is that I do have nerve damage. Oh my right hip, and on my left thigh. That means I won't know for another 10 months if I am able to reverse or slow the damage at all.
  A hard pill to swallow (so to speak), and pretty devastating all up. But, I was expecting worse!!!
  But I'm in a better place, I've cut back on work a ton (lucky to be in the financial position to do so), and am focusing on lots of physical activity. I'm also spending time bringing the cabin I bought to life - which has been really nice. Escaping Paris helped I think.
  And, catching up on writing plenty of gaming, too. I've so many to come in the next week or two, not including any dedicated Steam Deck / Gaming News posts. So its really nice to get back to them!
  Thanks for writing, always makes me smile :)
  
  Happy to hear about the kidneys! And let's hope for the best with the nerve damage. Life's not always kind to us, but it's good to see you are keeping a possitive attitude. It really helps when facing adversities!
  Can't wait for your new content! It's always a nice read to have while I have my morning tea!

I am definitely not going to pick this up.
I don't see why I should pay $40 for a yearly subscription to an app, that
doesn't do anything other tools like heroic don't already do just as good or better
doesn't even come with all the features promised.
doesn't even provide an actual continuous service that justifies a subscription (games are hosted by epic/gog.
When they launched the initial app, they promised a one-stop-solution, but actually only worked with epic.
Then they promised a GOG plugin that would become free after testing, but then decided to not do that and instead make an entirely new app.
I have no confidence they can deliver on their promised features for their app, or suddenly do another rug-pull on the scope of their app. I can see them changing course any day, and putting further store plugins behind yet another paywall.
Compared to solutions that already exist (heroic), they offer access to the same stores, as well as amazon. The $40 junk-store can do less than the free and open-source heroic.

I tried it and found it kinda...obtuse? I found it far more confusing than Heroic, so really saw no advantage to switching.
And hell no on the subscription model if that's the route they went with. Not to mention kinda seems doomed to fail when it's competing with a Foss alternative.
Hard pass from me.

Limited but paid sign ups for a fully launched product in its second full release?
Junk is an apt name.
And it hides the fact that it's a subscription behind several pages while trying to install/sign up?
Figure it out.
- Subscription? What the fuck?

Wait. Why would we pay for this??
- Problem is not paying. Is the subscription model what will make it fail.

subscriptions fee
Yeah that’s a no from me, dawg.

Maybe no one is talking about it because the greedy devs are now charging for a project?
It’s wild, i made sure to uninstall Junkstore1.0 from my deck
- It's fine to ask for money. Here I think it is just not clear why this would warrant a subscription model.
- Asking for money is fine, no one complains about having to buy Steam games. The dev is literally developing this full time, and there's nothing wrong with him charging for it.
  That said, he's charging a lot. I feel like $40 is way too much for a subscription, especially considering how good the free alternatives are. I'm guessing this would have been more finacially successful at a lower price point, while also helping more people.

Paid and for what? I don't see anything in there that isn't table stakes? I'm sorry but "download queue" isn't a feature, it's the most basic thing that I would expect a launcher to have.
I genuinely can't see why anyone would pay for this much less subscription 💀
- Is there any server component to it, other than serving updates? That would justify a subscription model, but I also cannot see any need for it for something like this.
  
  This is linux, updates comme free with your OS.

I've tried Junk Store and like it enough, but I feel it's not good for the target audience.
The initial instructions don't explain easily how to install it, and neither does the ad. I feel like this is crucial for people who both use a Steam Deck and want an easy to use all launcher.
The payment scheme. I think most of the Linux community (which is used to free software to start with though) would understand a developer getting some money, but I also think most hate subscriptions. You can keep them, but I think many wouldn't mind a single time payment option that only gets updates up to a x.99 version, with having to pay again for a version 3.0 etc. Especially for this kind of software in particular.
It's competing against Heroic Game Launcher, which is much better and free.
The name could be better. Techies will get it, but more casual users might hesitate.
The AI art used on the website could be better if going that route.

Where on the website does it say what it actually costs? Can't find it.
- The last update a few weeks ago said it was $40 per year.
  Edit: its under "Learn more"

Man, they really need to change that name. For the longest time I didn't know what the hell this thing did and didn't bother to look into it. Any reason why it's called that? Now, I'm going to try it after reading your description of what it is 🤦🏽

I guess I’ll be the black sheep here.
I like Junk Store. I’ve had a better experience with the Decky Loader plugin than I have had with Heroic, namely Heroic made it difficult to login to my accounts and refused to stay logged in. I’m not criticizing Heroic, and I’m appreciative of it as an open source project. Perhaps those issues have even been resolved since I last used it. At the time though, I wanted to stop logging into my accounts each time I wanted to see my libraries, so I gave Junk Store a chance.
I still use it, and I just decided to try out this new version. I’ve been using Linux since the late 90s, and it’s been my primary OS on all my systems since 2008. I’m no longer accustomed to paying for a lot of software (games aside), but doing so will help keep the free (and open source) Decky Loader version going for everyone.
I understand not liking subscriptions, and $40 is a bit high, but keep in mind it’s optional. The plugin version remains and will remain free according to the husband and wife team behind Junk Store. They’re very easy people to talk to if you need anything at all, and they have a passion for what they’re doing. I think it’s super shitty to call them greedy because they’re offering a paid option alongside the free one.
- The plugin version remains and will remain free according to the husband and wife team behind Junk Store. They’re very easy people to talk to if you need anything at all, and they have a passion for what they’re doing. I think it’s super shitty to call them greedy because they’re offering a paid option alongside the free one.
  I'd like to point out, that the subscription to JS 2.0 is absolutely not there to keep the free version free. In their own FAQ on discord they are already on record stating that if the paid GOG plugin drops of in sales (not usage!), they are going to scale back or even stop maintaining the paid plugin as well as the decky version of JS.

I've just watched the installation video and when they install Doom64 from Epic (around the 3:20 Minute mark), it mentioned legendary, a free and open-source alternative to the epic launcher. A bit of further digging we notice that junk-store uses gogdl and nile as well. I am absolutely baffled by this. This closed-source, proprietary $40/p.a. software is a wrapper (albeit a fancy one) for other, open-source launchers.

Now, i am sure theres a bit more to it than just invoking the binaries of these launchers, but personaly, I consider this shady.

Oh hey, an accurately named repository for GOG, Epic, and Blizzard. Also whatever Microsoft and EA are using.

28 comments