I've built a Dockerfile that does a hybrid of solution 1 and AppImage building.
It compiles the software with an older Debian release, then packages the software in a Python AppImage with necessary dependencies installed and the proper dynamic libs copied.
Tim Sweeny didn't make an offer, he tried to make positive PR to EGS while trying to paint Valve as the bad guys; Valve obviously wouldn't charge the same rate as Epic because they include a lot more value for both user and developers than Epic does: to list a few of Valve services that Epic doesn't have:
That's not to mention the benefits developers can get from Steam's platform and SDK:
If you ask me, I think Epic is the one charging way too much