Official ES-DE website: https://es-de.org
It's officially supported on Android, Linux, macOS, Windows and Haiku. There is also an unofficial ES-DE package in the FreeBSD ports collection.
RetroDECK uses a custom ES-DE build configured for integration with the RetroDECK Flatpak environment.
The build uses the upstream ES-DE codebase and the existing RETRODECK build flag to enable RetroDECK-specific adjustments.
Upstream ES-DE development is performed by the ES-DE team. RetroDECK regularly updates its build against upstream changes to remain aligned with the current ES-DE codebase.
| Area | RetroDECK Custom Build |
|---|---|
| Flatpak compatibility | Adjusts filesystem paths, permissions and runtime dependencies for the Flatpak sandbox. |
| Menu structure | Adjusts menu entries to expose RetroDECK-specific features, such as the RetroDECK Configurator. |
| Application updater | The build system disables the application updater when RETRODECK is enabled. |
The goal of the upstream project is to create a high quality frontend that is easy to use, requires minimal setup and configuration, looks nice, and is available across a wide range of operating systems.
It comes preconfigured for use with a large selection of emulators, game engines, game managers and gaming services and it can also run locally installed games and applications. It's fully customizable, so you can easily expand it with support for additional systems and applications.
You can find the complete list of supported game systems in the User guide and in the Android, Linux on AArch64 and Haiku documentation.
Note: these are ES-DE's own community channels for the upstream project. They are not a support channel for RetroDECK — see Bug Reports below for where to get help with the RetroDECK build.
Reddit:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ESDE_Frontend
X/Twitter:
https://x.com/ES_DE_Frontend
Bluesky:
https://bsky.app/profile/es-de.org
For suggestions or improvements to upstream ES-DE, use the official GitLab issue tracker:
https://gitlab.com/es-de/emulationstation-de/-/issues
Before opening an issue, review existing reports to avoid duplicates and provide all relevant technical information.
FAQ-ANDROID.md - Frequently Asked Questions specifically for Android
USERGUIDE.md / USERGUIDE-DEV.md - Comprehensive guide and reference for all application settings
ANDROID.md / ANDROID-DEV.md - Documentation specifically for Android
LINUX-AARCH64.md / LINUX-AARCH64-DEV.md - Documentation specifically for Linux on AArch64/ARM64
HAIKU.md - Documentation specifically for Haiku
INSTALL.md / INSTALL-DEV.md - Building from source code and advanced configuration topics
For issues specific to RetroDECK, use the official GitHub issue tracker:
https://github.com/RetroDECK/RetroDECK/issues
RetroDECK maintains a positive and cooperative relationship with the upstream ES-DE project and is grateful to the ES-DE team for its continued collaboration and support for so many years, including providing and maintaining the RETRODECK custom build option from the very beginning. The ongoing development of ES-DE provides the foundation of many features used by RetroDECK as the main front-end.