About
OpenGOAL is a community decompilation and native PC port of the Jak and Daxter trilogy (The Precursor Legacy, Jak II, Jak 3) for x86-64 Linux and Windows. The project began in 2020, targeting Naughty Dog's proprietary Game Oriented Assembly Lisp (GOAL) language — over 98% of the PS2 originals were written in this custom Lisp dialect. The team decompiled the GOAL bytecode back into readable source, built their own GOAL compiler, and retargeted it to x86-64, making these among the most technically ambitious fan ports ever completed.
Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy reached feature-complete status first and is the recommended starting point; Jak II and Jak 3 entered public beta with minor remaining rough edges.
Identity
Launch
- Binary
- gk
- Needs files
- none beyond the binary
Runtime
- Runs as
- Native Linux
- Proton
- not needed
⚙ Setup notes
Native: Fully native Linux — no Proton needed.
Install (Launcher): OpenGOAL Launcher (open-goal/launcher on GitHub) — the recommended path for all three games. On Steam Deck run it in Desktop Mode; download the amd64 AppImage, mark it executable, and use it to install and manage game versions. The launcher handles ISO extraction and decompilation. Use its "Copy Game Executable Command" button to add each game to Steam as a non-Steam shortcut for Game Mode.
Decky plugin deprecated: The old open-goal/decky-plugin is deprecated — use the Launcher instead. On Steam Deck you may need to use the compiled jak-project releases rather than the Launcher if it misbehaves.
Launching each game: gk defaults to booting Jak 1. To play the sequels, launch with ./gk --game jak2 or ./gk --game jak3 (the Launcher's per-game shortcut commands set this for you).
Fix: If the Launcher shows an EGL_BAD_PARAMETER error, switch to the direct jak-project release tarball and add the gk binary to Steam manually.
Status: Jak 1 is considered feature-complete; Jak 2 and Jak 3 are in beta (minor audio/graphics bugs) but fully completable start-to-finish as of 2026.
The one thing to know
Native — no ProtonDB tier: This is a native Linux x86-64 build, so there is no Proton/ProtonDB rating; it does not appear on ProtonDB as a Steam title (no steam_appid).
Supply your own copy: Requires a legally owned PS2 disc dump of Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy (and Jak II / Jak 3 for those games). The launcher or decompilation tool extracts assets from the ISO — the ISO itself is not bundled.
Sequels need a launch flag: gk boots Jak 1 by default; run ./gk --game jak2 or ./gk --game jak3 for the others (the Launcher's per-game shortcut sets this automatically).
Decky plugin deprecated: Use the OpenGOAL Launcher, not the old decky-plugin.
Fix: If the launcher AppImage fails with EGL_BAD_PARAMETER on SteamOS, use the direct jak-project release and add gk to Steam manually.
Status: Jak 2 and Jak 3 are beta; expect minor audio glitches.
Note: deckport links nowhere to obtain ISOs.
Community guides
Write-ups and threads from people who got this (or a similar) game running. deckport links to them — it doesn't reproduce them.
- opengoal Official Installation Docs — opengoal.dev ↗
- steamdeckhq How to Set Up the Jak Trilogy on Steam Deck — Steam Deck HQ ↗
- nerdzap Play Jak and Daxter Natively on Steam Deck — NerdZap ↗
- github jak-project (compiled releases / gk runtime) — GitHub ↗
- github OpenGOAL Launcher — GitHub Releases ↗
- opengoal OpenGOAL FAQ ↗
Get the artwork
deckport never hosts game images. Open this game on SteamGridDB, pick
the cover / hero / logo / icon you like, and drop them into the
game folder under .deckport-art/ before you push it to the
Deck. The importer files them under the right names automatically.
Run it on your Deck
Two files: the one-time importer (deckport.py) in your
Deck's home folder, and this game's install helper. Copy the game
into ~/Games and run the helper with Steam closed — it
writes the recipe (binary, launch options)
and registers the shortcut with artwork.