Hello u/carn1x, have you checked to see if this has already been answered by [searching for your issue?](https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/search/?q=Yooka-Laylee from Epic via Heroic loads intro logos but main menu never appears?)
Other useful resources: [Servor's Enhanced FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/wiki/faq) | [Servor's Enhanced FAQ Thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/syt8qv/steam_deck_enhanced_faq/) (with more answers in the comments!).
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I had the same problem on the Steam Deck.
I managed to fix it.
If you have another computer or borrow one with windows and then install and go to play, in that other computer it will open the browser window to do the authorization between epic and the game. Once you accept, it's vinculated to your account and you will never have to do it again. The next time you start the game on Steam Deck or any other machine it will go to "Press start to continue" instead of the infinite loading.
Sorry that my solution requires a secondary machine but that's the way I got it to work.
I have the same problem. I had so many other things to try out that I eventually just uninstalled and moved on, but I feel like I hit 2 duds in a row for the heroic launcher : yooka laylee and Celeste seem to be difficult to get working through egs. Sorry I can't help, but I'm interested to see if anyone else has run into this and conquered it
+1, I have just tried it, but it's stuck on that intro with the animation.
I don't know if it could be related, but if I leave the game running in that state, exactly 5 minutes after launching it from the Epic Launcher, it crashes and shows this error message:
"Please sign into the Epic Games Store before launching the game"
I think I figured it out. I was having the same issue until I saw that this is also a problem on Windows, where the game tries to open your default web browser and fails. I reinstalled the native version of Firefox (one of the browsers that worked for the Windows users), and set it as the default browser. Upon launching the game, Firefox opened a tab that asked for me to give permissions to Yooka-Laylee. After accepting it, the game launched and made it to the title screen.
Could you give a bit more details on your solution?
I'm trying to solve it myself but to no avail :/
I have chrome and Firefox installed via flatpaks and I've set Firefox as default browser in desktop environment.
I've tried launching the game via HGL in game mode and desktop mode and also via steam in both modes.
Are you using the HGL to launch it or the Epic Games Launcher via Lutris/wine?
Well here's a couple of other things I probably should mention:
I'm running Pop-OS 22.04 (on a desktop), launching from HGL, and using Wine-7.15, not Proton. It might help if you try using a newly released Wine version instead, although I tried running it through Proton and it still worked fine, so that's probably not the problem. I also have GameMode enabled, but I don't think that's the problem since it still works without it.
The main thing I can suggest is to try installing a native client for Firefox or Chrome and setting that to your default browser, not the Flatpak versions. Before I tried native Firefox, I tried Firefox through wine, which didn't work. I also know that Flatpak packages don't always work exactly the same as native packages, so definitely give it a try.
Also, once you're done signing in for the first time, you don't need the browser anymore, so feel free to change the default browser back to the one of your choice.
Thanks for the detailed explanation!
Steamdeck rootfs is readonly by default and the intended way is to use the flatpak to install new software (which I generally do not have problem in a console-like device).
This being said, I've removed the flatpak version of FF, unlocked the fs and used the package from pacman. Unfortunately nothing changed :/ I've tried to use it with various wine versions but it mostly does not run at all without the Proton. Lutris compilations of wine work but are stuck at the same place as the Proton ones.
I decided to stop and just enjoy other titles from my backlog (like the Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair which runs without the problem).
Thanks for the help! Maybe it will guide someone else to the proper solution for the Steam Deck.
The problem was the unresolved bug in the SteamOS. Xdg credentials do not refresh and that is why xdg-open won't work.
You can run 'systemctl restart --user xdg-desktop-portal' after you open Desktop mode. It should work for the current session and you will be able to activate YL now, when launched from HGL. This is needed only once.
Alternatively you can try 'Main' channel of the SteamOS where it had been fixed already.
Okay, I’m seeing now that Valve switched to the Flatpak distribution of Firefox. Weird that it still doesn’t work for me after several reinstalls and restarts of the xdg service. I’ve noticed that others seem to have Firefox available in gaming mode and/or installed it there rather than via Discover. I don’t know if this makes a difference in it being launchable from gaming mode.
What I had to do is start Yooka Laylee from big picture mode in desktop mode. When I did a browser window opened and asked for permission from epic. After that I restarted and started Yooka Laylee from game mode. Works no issues now. Default browser is Chrome. I installed with Heroic but also installed Epic through Lutris prior to trying game. Using latest Proton-GE (7-43). Set Steam shortcut through Heroic and used Steam shortcut to launch game.
Hello u/carn1x, have you checked to see if this has already been answered by [searching for your issue?](https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/search/?q=Yooka-Laylee from Epic via Heroic loads intro logos but main menu never appears?) Other useful resources: [Servor's Enhanced FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/wiki/faq) | [Servor's Enhanced FAQ Thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/SteamDeck/comments/syt8qv/steam_deck_enhanced_faq/) (with more answers in the comments!). **If you find a solution, please leave a comment on this post with the answer for others!** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/SteamDeck) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I had the same problem on the Steam Deck. I managed to fix it. If you have another computer or borrow one with windows and then install and go to play, in that other computer it will open the browser window to do the authorization between epic and the game. Once you accept, it's vinculated to your account and you will never have to do it again. The next time you start the game on Steam Deck or any other machine it will go to "Press start to continue" instead of the infinite loading. Sorry that my solution requires a secondary machine but that's the way I got it to work.
Oh good to know thanks, I'll try it
Finally got around to trying this, unfortunately it hasn't solved the problem for me. Thanks for sharing though.
You fixed it for me, thanks!
I have the same problem. I had so many other things to try out that I eventually just uninstalled and moved on, but I feel like I hit 2 duds in a row for the heroic launcher : yooka laylee and Celeste seem to be difficult to get working through egs. Sorry I can't help, but I'm interested to see if anyone else has run into this and conquered it
+1, I have just tried it, but it's stuck on that intro with the animation. I don't know if it could be related, but if I leave the game running in that state, exactly 5 minutes after launching it from the Epic Launcher, it crashes and shows this error message: "Please sign into the Epic Games Store before launching the game"
I think I figured it out. I was having the same issue until I saw that this is also a problem on Windows, where the game tries to open your default web browser and fails. I reinstalled the native version of Firefox (one of the browsers that worked for the Windows users), and set it as the default browser. Upon launching the game, Firefox opened a tab that asked for me to give permissions to Yooka-Laylee. After accepting it, the game launched and made it to the title screen.
Could you give a bit more details on your solution? I'm trying to solve it myself but to no avail :/ I have chrome and Firefox installed via flatpaks and I've set Firefox as default browser in desktop environment. I've tried launching the game via HGL in game mode and desktop mode and also via steam in both modes. Are you using the HGL to launch it or the Epic Games Launcher via Lutris/wine?
Well here's a couple of other things I probably should mention: I'm running Pop-OS 22.04 (on a desktop), launching from HGL, and using Wine-7.15, not Proton. It might help if you try using a newly released Wine version instead, although I tried running it through Proton and it still worked fine, so that's probably not the problem. I also have GameMode enabled, but I don't think that's the problem since it still works without it. The main thing I can suggest is to try installing a native client for Firefox or Chrome and setting that to your default browser, not the Flatpak versions. Before I tried native Firefox, I tried Firefox through wine, which didn't work. I also know that Flatpak packages don't always work exactly the same as native packages, so definitely give it a try. Also, once you're done signing in for the first time, you don't need the browser anymore, so feel free to change the default browser back to the one of your choice.
Thanks for the detailed explanation! Steamdeck rootfs is readonly by default and the intended way is to use the flatpak to install new software (which I generally do not have problem in a console-like device). This being said, I've removed the flatpak version of FF, unlocked the fs and used the package from pacman. Unfortunately nothing changed :/ I've tried to use it with various wine versions but it mostly does not run at all without the Proton. Lutris compilations of wine work but are stuck at the same place as the Proton ones. I decided to stop and just enjoy other titles from my backlog (like the Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair which runs without the problem). Thanks for the help! Maybe it will guide someone else to the proper solution for the Steam Deck.
Any update on this? It occurs to me that the pacman version is also not native. I’ll update you if I try with the native one, as recommend by OP.
The problem was the unresolved bug in the SteamOS. Xdg credentials do not refresh and that is why xdg-open won't work. You can run 'systemctl restart --user xdg-desktop-portal' after you open Desktop mode. It should work for the current session and you will be able to activate YL now, when launched from HGL. This is needed only once. Alternatively you can try 'Main' channel of the SteamOS where it had been fixed already.
Thanks for the reply! No dice for me even after restarting the xdg service, but I haven’t tried installing a different copy of Firefox yet.
Okay, I’m seeing now that Valve switched to the Flatpak distribution of Firefox. Weird that it still doesn’t work for me after several reinstalls and restarts of the xdg service. I’ve noticed that others seem to have Firefox available in gaming mode and/or installed it there rather than via Discover. I don’t know if this makes a difference in it being launchable from gaming mode.
I have the same issue as you 4 months later regardless of Proton version. Did you ever get it to work?
Sorry I gave up. I do want to see if Luxtorpeda can help though.
What I had to do is start Yooka Laylee from big picture mode in desktop mode. When I did a browser window opened and asked for permission from epic. After that I restarted and started Yooka Laylee from game mode. Works no issues now. Default browser is Chrome. I installed with Heroic but also installed Epic through Lutris prior to trying game. Using latest Proton-GE (7-43). Set Steam shortcut through Heroic and used Steam shortcut to launch game.