Hoping at some point to play Fortnite on Linux / Steam Deck without the use of Cloud Gaming services? Well, it's probably quite some time away, if ever.
While Epic Games could put it on Linux, they're currently just choosing not to. The anti-cheat is supported, and has been for some time. It uses a mixture of Easy Anti-Cheat (which Epic themselves own) and BattlEye, both are actually supported on Linux. Their own game engine, Unreal Engine, does also support Linux too.
Recently The Verge did an interview with Epic's CEO Tim Sweeney, and this was mentioned:
Why is Fortnite still not playable on Steam Deck?
If we only had a few more programmers. It’s the Linux problem. I love the Steam Deck hardware. Valve has done an amazing job there; I wish they would get to tens of millions of users, at which point it would actually make sense to support it.
Worth noting back in September 2023, Epic Games let go over 800 people.
You may remember that back in 2022, Sweeney gave a pretty clear "no" to Fortnite support with Proton for Linux / Steam Deck, with Sweeney mentioning all the different Linux kernel combinations, especially with the size of Fortnite as a game it's a huge target for cheaters (and it's only gotten a lot bigger since then).
The other side though of course is the Epic Games Store, and how Epic sees Valve as a competitor. The issue claimed is the 30% cut that Valve take, but given how many resources Epic continue pouring into the Epic Games Store, through various exclusivity deals and free games, they're not going to turn around and put Fortnite onto Steam. Remember they actually pulled Rocket League and Fall Guys from Steam after acquiring them.
They wouldn't actually need to put it onto Steam for it to work on Linux / Steam Deck though, there's various ways to get the Epic Games Store on Linux and Fortnite already loads with Proton, it's just the anti-cheat blocking you actually playing it.
Really, the reality is simple and the quote above makes it clear. It's just a question of how much money Fortnite would make, and it would need to make a lot on Linux / Steam Deck. Once a platform is big enough, it won't be ignored. Money is the only priority, as seen when Epic decided to kill off Unreal Tournament.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
ElectricPrism Dec 14, 2023
QuoteFortnite on Linux / Steam Deck?
No thanks. Timmy Tencent doesn't know how to run a business I don't want his garbage contaminating my pristine gaming consoles. He can go hookup with Gary Newman and circle jerk about Lunix and soviet computer hacker Linyos Torovoltos hacking into your stereo to steal your music using the stolen program mp3 [ Archive.org ]
Chronarius Dec 14, 2023
Anyway I'm not buying anything from Epic Fail Games, after they locked my account before I couldn't even install the client(!!!) because I violated their terms of use. As I asked what I did wrong? Ok, I created an account on Epic, which was obviously a big violation
I didn't get an answer, just a some rude email, that they don't talk about it! I violated the terms, and thats it! About three months later I got an email in which they apologizing that my account lock was wrong, and they are very very sorry and I got 20 bucks for the store. Do they really think that I will spent any money in this 💩💩💩 store?Last edited by Chronarius on 14 December 2023 at 9:59 am UTC
BlackBloodRum Dec 14, 2023
Give them the same attitude they give us. E.g: The we don't want you attitude. Forget them and move on.
I simply don't see much reason to give them free publicity or attention at this point.
Quoting: SzkodnixI am not sure who is a bigger clown of the gaming world: is it Todd Howard or Tim Sweeney...
Have you ever seen Todd Howard and Tim Sweeney on the same stage?
Could it be that they are the same reptiloide wearing different human costumes?
Just asking questions!
Quoting: bisbyxDid everyone see the new Rocket League racing mode? And by that, I mean the new racing mini-game inside Fortnite. Fortnite is no longer a game, and is now a gaming ecosystem of its own.
The exclusivity they buy with Fortnite money for EGS is not to benefit the gamers, but to "benefit" the devs (if your game reaches less people, but you get paid anyway, do you care?) and to draw customers in themselves. Tim constantly says it's better for the gamers, but it's not. So at this point I just assume anything Tim says is about a "better experience" and assume it means "will make us money."
FortniteDeck when?
Quoting: MalDunno. As far as I can see, it just means the end of semi walled gardens platforms. Sweeney might think that he can just start leeching from Google work on Android, but his win combined with Apple one is just a signal to tech firms that US law allows closed systems or open systems, no mid ground. Google will most likely rectify this by building its own iPhones. I guess it's good overall, Android was a little hypocritical in the end (technically open, but not commercially due to Google deals behind the scenes). It was just a mean to prevent the likes of Samsung, LG and the rest to play competitors at a time when Google had no hardware experience. But now it has it. For a time it will look interesting but I'm 80% sure it will end the same way as now, just with iPhones vs Pixels instead of droids. All the rest marginalized. And more transparency on the business models which doesn't hurt.
i was thinking about it right now, epic will probably try again with apple and google will appeal as well, if things stay as they are, then it will prove that US government protect proprietary systems and walled gardens while punish open ones.
its a good thing that google loses, but at least android was open source, we might lose all the positives instead of the negatives on this situation.
android might get forked with tons of oem branded brands that lose compatibility with each other as time passes because each oem want to have their own proprietary and exclusive apis, and that will show that the same can happen to linux but cant happen to microsoft.
I dont think it will though, i think android will be more windows like, google will lose it main source of revenue for developing it, and i dont think that will set a good precedent for open source in general, at least if apple dont get the same deal.
and if the same dont happen soon after for playstation, nintendo and xbox.
Clearly, Epic hired This Man.
(Which, as we all know, is a problem. )[/quote]actually that was a real demmand from the players... but it came in the form of mods in the past , now big companies apropriate it as "canon" colabs...
its a double edge sword, in some cases those colabs are better than any fan made thing could do (because fans would have trouble to change too many game systems for their mods to work, compare mugem to smash bross for example, smash is well balanced and polished, mugem you have to balance it yourself or download from someone who is competent enough to do that)
Quoting: pleasereadthemanualholyshit i didnt knew google gripes on android were that strongQuoting: MalApple won the antitrust case against Epic, didn't they?Quoting: pleasereadthemanualIt's definitely great that Epic won the antitrust case, because that means Google lost, and Google is the first large tech company in more than 20 years to lose an antitrust case. It indicates a paradigm shift. Hopefully the remedies will be meaningful.
Dunno. As far as I can see, it just means the end of semi walled gardens platforms. Sweeney might think that he can just start leeching from Google work on Android, but his win combined with Apple one is just a signal to tech firms that US law allows closed systems or open systems, no mid ground. Google will most likely rectify this by building its own iPhones. I guess it's good overall, Android was a little hypocritical in the end (technically open, but not commercially due to Google deals behind the scenes). It was just a mean to prevent the likes of Samsung, LG and the rest to play competitors at a time when Google had no hardware experience. But now it has it. For a time it will look interesting but I'm 80% sure it will end the same way as now, just with iPhones vs Pixels instead of droids. All the rest marginalized. And more transparency on the business models which doesn't hurt.
Android is open source. It's the Google apps that aren't. Ars has a great breakdown of how Google maintains control over Android: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/07/googles-iron-grip-on-android-controlling-open-source-by-any-means-necessary/
Google has set things up such that competitors stay in their own lane and present a united front against Apple. OEMs are allowed to ship Android on devices, but if they want Google Maps, Google Play, and Google Play Services, they need to comply with Google's rules (namely, don't build an alternative app store or maintain your own Android fork). It's already a monopoly in Google's favor; it's not as if antitrust remedies could make it worse. OEMs are already at Google's mercy, except for the really big ones like Amazon and Huawei. Google is bundling two distinct products together just like IE and Windows.
Google has far less control over powerful app publishers like Epic. It's why they needed to resort to bribery to stop Epic from offering a competing service.
I don't think Epic is interested in "leeching" from Google's work on Android. They want to develop their own payment system so they don't need to give Google a 30% cut. In a competitive market, they should be allowed to do that.
Google Pixels own a pitiful percentage of the phone market compared to other Android phones (I say this owning a Pixel myself). It has less than 5% of most markets. The Nexus phones were the same way. Google Pixels, just like every other Android phone, are just a platform for Google to offer their services to Android users. Google doesn't care about making money directly from phones; they're a software company. They only built a browser so they could make Google search the default. Android exists for the same reason.
If Google stops releasing new sources for Android, Samsung will just fork it, leave the OHA, create their own Play Store and APIs for apps, start building replacements for Google's apps, and app developers will scramble to move to that platform because it's the biggest Android platform by far. Most other OEMs will flee to that fork of Android too. Google gains nothing from this, but they lose a lot.
But in case it wasn't clear, fuck Epic.
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