Confused on Steam Play and Proton? Be sure to check out our guide.
We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.
Coming into my inbox a few minutes ago (Thunderbird is handy for RSS feeds!), Unreal Tournament has been updated again and Epic seem to have made it slightly easier to access the Linux version now.

For those that don't know or don't remember, Epic Games are making a new Unreal Tournament and it's completely free to download and play.

Usually, you would need to be logged into their forum and go to a specific post to download it, but not any more. At the bottom of their release notes you will now find a direct download for the Linux client and server. However, they still aren't listing Linux for download on the main downloads page. I imagine this is due to Linux still not having a proper launcher.

Since it doesn't have a Linux launcher, you will need to go into this folder:
/LinuxNoEditor/Engine/Binaries/Linux/UE4-Linux-Shipping
And then run this command in terminal to play it:
./UE4-Linux-Shipping UnrealTournament -opengl4
Or just use a simple launcher script:
#!/bin/bash
cd $HOME'/Downloads/LinuxNoEditor/Engine/Binaries/Linux/'
./UE4-Linux-Shipping UnrealTournament -opengl4

Obviously change the directory structure to match where you've placed the download.

They've done another video to show it off along with the patch too:
YouTube Thumbnail
YouTube videos require cookies, you must accept their cookies to view. View cookie preferences.
Accept Cookies & Show   Direct Link

The new release includes voice chat support with dedicated voice servers, a new Bio Rifle mesh, support for unique per character first person arms, significant performance improvements for low end systems and more. It's not clear if the performance improvements have been done to the Linux version.

You can find the full release notes here. There's no Linux specific fixes from what I can tell listed in there.

All recent versions I tested had some bad graphical issues on Linux, so it might still be problematic. Since it's a 10GB download I don't have it ready yet to re-test. Will update this post when I've had a chance. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Action, FPS, Free Game
17 Likes
About the author -
author picture
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly checked on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. You can also follow my personal adventures on Bluesky.
See more from me
The comments on this article are closed.
All posts need to follow our rules. For users logged in: please hit the Report Flag icon on any post that breaks the rules or contains illegal / harmful content. Guest readers can email us for any issues.
29 comments
Page: 1/2»
  Go to:

Geppeto35 Jun 28, 2017
Alternating with Rocket League, the two online games to play! Every game modes with flag are fun, blitz in first, hope to meet you there. I will put after my nickname [GOL] if some of you also play this game ^^


Last edited by Geppeto35 on 28 June 2017 at 3:01 pm UTC
AsciiWolf Jun 28, 2017
  • Supporter Plus
Small typo: UE4-Linux-Shipping ./UnrealTournament (should be ./UE4-Linux-Shipping UnrealTournament). :-)


Last edited by AsciiWolf on 28 June 2017 at 3:32 pm UTC
Liam Dawe Jun 28, 2017
Small typo: UE4-Linux-Shipping ./UnrealTournament (should be ./UE4-Linux-Shipping UnrealTournament). :-)
Geppeto35 Jun 28, 2017
How populated is this right now? last time I tried it I couldn't play multiplayer.
I always find a server. I'm in Europe, I play on German, Italy and Belgium servers (I can get their name this evening if you need?). When all games on those server are full, I create my own game from on of those servers, and I rarely have to wait more than 3 minutes before playing (so that 3 to 4 more players joint on mode with flag like blitz or similar). I usually play between 8 pm and ~11 pm Greenwich Mean Time.


Last edited by Geppeto35 on 28 June 2017 at 4:01 pm UTC
ProfessorKaos64 Jun 28, 2017
Sweet, now I can finally push out a SteamOS package.
Jahimself Jun 28, 2017
It's a little step but a good one.
razing32 Jun 28, 2017
I'm already getting my butt kicked in Ballistic Overkill , oh well , I guess I have a spare buttock.
scaine Jun 28, 2017
View PC info
  • Contributing Editor
  • Mega Supporter
showing it running on a gtx 1080 and a core i7-7700k

There's really no fluidity to this at all. What framerate is this? It seems like really horrible performance given the hardware.
Geppeto35 Jun 28, 2017
showing it running on a gtx 1080 and a core i7-7700k

There's really no fluidity to this at all. What framerate is this? It seems like really horrible performance given the hardware.

Strange indeed, does the video recording can do that? I run it smoothly with a i7 and 1060 all max. Before with a 960, I had to put a lot graphic stuff to medium but at 40 to 60 fps and no (apparent) stuttering.
g000h Jun 28, 2017
Doh, 10GB download. I guess there must be some maps built in the client. Community built maps download needs an Epic user account login.


Last edited by g000h on 28 June 2017 at 6:40 pm UTC
gabber Jun 28, 2017
friendlist not support on linux :/
GloriousEggroll Jun 28, 2017
For those on Arch, I maintain the unrealtournament4 AUR package, which is the zip epic releases, packed into an AUR package with the changes listed in this article, for easy installation.

it is too big to install using pacaur or yaourt because of default /tmp size limits, so you will want to go to https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/unrealtournament4/, download the snapshot, extract it somewhere then run makepkg -i

enjoy :)
Egonaut Jun 28, 2017
As long as I have to download 10 GB for every new release, I skip it. Epic get your shit together and make a proper Linux launcher which downloads only the patched files instead of the whole game, sigh.
Quenestil Jun 28, 2017
Just create a .desktop it's easier to integrate! :D

#!/usr/bin/env xdg-open
[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=Unreal Tournament
Exec=/home/user/Downloads/LinuxNoEditor/Engine/Binaries/Linux/UE4-Linux-Shipping UnrealTournament
Path=/home/user/Downloads/LinuxNoEditor/Engine/Binaries/Linux
Categories=Application;
pete910 Jun 29, 2017
View PC info
  • Supporter Plus
showing it running on a gtx 1080 and a core i7-7700k

There's really no fluidity to this at all. What framerate is this? It seems like really horrible performance given the hardware.

Strange indeed, does the video recording can do that? I run it smoothly with a i7 and 1060 all max. Before with a 960, I had to put a lot graphic stuff to medium but at 40 to 60 fps and no (apparent) stuttering.

Runs like that on my 1080 too. So know, it's not the render/YT

Had Micheal on phoronix making out that it was flawless on NV compared to AMD but as the vid shows, NV has the graphic glitches too

Could be the Linux build I guess.


Last edited by pete910 on 29 June 2017 at 12:21 am UTC
Beamboom Jun 29, 2017
You need to chmod +x the binaries too. At least the one you run (I changed them all just in case)


It ran very very smooth on my rig (gtx780) the little I did try it yesterday.


Last edited by Beamboom on 29 June 2017 at 10:40 am UTC
ison111 Jun 29, 2017
I've been playing this game every single day on lowish end hardware, so with this new update I can vouch for the performance improvements working on Linux too. I've seen significant improvements using lowest settings.
Also it seems the mouse input responsiveness was improved significantly as well.

The performance improvements they were referring to wouldn't effect people running the game on medium/high settings I don't think.
What they mean by improving performance on low end hardware is that there are additional options in the settings now (you have to check the "show advanced" box to see them) which allow you to set the graphics lower than before.
Mountain Man Jun 29, 2017
Why don't they just give us a simple Ubuntu repository? That would make things so much easier for everybody.
Quenestil Jun 29, 2017
Why don't they just give us a simple Ubuntu repository? That would make things so much easier for everybody.

2 reasons: it's in Alpha; they would rather have a launcher.
scaine Jun 29, 2017
View PC info
  • Contributing Editor
  • Mega Supporter
Why don't they just give us a simple Ubuntu repository? That would make things so much easier for everybody.

2 reasons: it's in Alpha; they would rather have a launcher.

If they don't provide a deb/ppa, they've basically got one less tester over here. I suspect that I'm the tip of a fairly big Ubuntu-shaped iceberg.

Sure, if I'm incredibly bored, I might give it a go, but honestly, the last time I had time on my hands, I briefly looked at this, then ended up downloading the awesome OpenMW instead.
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
The comments on this article are closed.