Epic is working on bringing Fortnite to Linux through its Epic Games Launcher. The new launcher is releasing in preview today, and for the first time on Linux, and while Fortnite isn’t available there just yet, Epic wants to make that a reality.
So far, part of the reason Fortnite hasn’t been available on Linux is concerns about cheating. While Epic’s Easy Anti-Cheat (EAC) service does support Linux, Fortnite itself does not, and in February 2022, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said that for Fortnite, “We don’t have confidence that we’d be able to combat cheating at scale under a wide array of kernel configurations.” But now, Epic says it’s planning to rebuild EAC for Linux, which it is calling EAC Linux v2.
“To bring Fortnite to Linux, we are rebuilding Easy Anti-Cheat (EAC) and working with distro maintainers on security requirements,” Epic says in a blog post. “Once it’s working with a critical mass of distro maintainers, we’ll bring Fortnite to Linux via the Epic Games Launcher. We’ll also make these improvements available to other developers so they can bring their games to Linux players.”
Epic plans to pilot EAC Linux v2 in Fortnite first, Epic says in a separate post focused on the anti-cheat update. The company doesn’t have a timeline for when the Fortnite Linux version might be available, Epic engineering director Rick Deist tells The Verge in a briefing.
Epic is also “investigating” making the game compatible with Valve’s Linux-based SteamOS, Deist says, though the company does not plan to bring Fortnite to Valve’s Steam store, according to Epic Games Store VP and GM Martin Keely. The company also says that the Steam Deck “does not support the required features for our EAC v2 solution, but we are actively talking with Valve and hope to support it in the future.”