Epic Games is officially developing a Linux version of its popular battle royale title, Fortnite. The announcement, initially a small note in a broader blog post about the Epic Games Store's move to Linux, signifies a potentially significant step forward for gaming on the open-source operating system.
Fortnite's Linux port will arrive via the Epic Games Store launcher. However, its release is contingent on distro maintainers—those responsible for different Linux operating system variants—implementing a set of security requirements set by Epic. These requirements are necessary for Fortnite to run, and each distribution must meet them individually. Epic has not specified the number of maintainers needed to reach this goal, referred to as a "critical mass."
This development holds considerable implications. Primarily, it could pave the way for Fortnite to be playable on Valve's SteamOS, benefiting devices like the Steam Deck and Steam Machine. Beyond Fortnite itself, Epic stated that the security work undertaken for this project will be made available to other developers looking to bring their games to Linux.
The most impactful aspect of this news revolves around Easy Anti-Cheat, the anti-cheat service owned by Epic Games that is utilized by Fortnite and numerous other titles, including Apex Legends. While Easy Anti-Cheat technically supports Linux, many developers have refrained from enabling it due to its perceived lower level of protection compared to its Windows counterpart. This has historically rendered many Easy Anti-Cheat-protected games unplayable on Linux-based systems like SteamOS.
Epic's efforts aim to address this disparity by leveraging Linux's inherent security features, such as signed kernel modules and secure boot with attestation. The company explained that these requirements build upon existing work by many distro maintainers. By increasing the number of distributions that meet these security standards by default, Epic hopes to bring the level of protection offered by Easy Anti-Cheat on Linux much closer to that of Windows.
While no specific release timeline has been provided, Easy Anti-Cheat will undergo testing with Fortnite on Linux before its features are rolled out to other developers. The successful launch of Fortnite on Linux would indicate that these anti-cheat advancements have come to fruition, marking a significant stride toward achieving anti-cheat parity between Windows and Linux gaming environments.