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.
Quoting: fizdogI would love to switch to a linux distro geared towards gaming but things like this is holding me back. as little as i play fortnite, when i do its with my son and yeah. i'm already seeing people saying they want to switch to linux for what microcrap is doing with windows(whether the do or no is another question).
I'd recommend dual boot in this situation. Had that for many years, until I discovered I had used Windows only two times(*) in a full year in the end - and got rid of it.
(*) taxes declaration and an image from a veterinary
Last edited by Eike on 6 July 2024 at 10:27 am UTC
slaapliedje Jul 8
Quoting: EikeI just bot back from a vacation, and every time I go on one, I try to pick the right devices to go along for whatever reason. This time, I brought the m1 macbook and iPad Pro. I took some pictures and wanted to see how good that Affinity Photo program a lot are talking about to get rid of Adobe products...Quoting: fizdogI would love to switch to a linux distro geared towards gaming but things like this is holding me back. as little as i play fortnite, when i do its with my son and yeah. i'm already seeing people saying they want to switch to linux for what microcrap is doing with windows(whether the do or no is another question).
I'd recommend dual boot in this situation. Had that for many years, until I discovered I had used Windows only two times(*) in a full year in the end - and got rid of it.
(*) taxes declaration and an image from a veterinary
Well, getting the pictures off my Android phone onto the mac was just not working... I rebooted into Asahi Linux so I could then fetch them, because I couldn't get Android File Transfer to connect (I had in the past). MacDroid is another program that should have worked, but they wanted 20 dollars a year for that, something that should be built into the OS.
Point being; Apple is behind the times on any sort of interoperability with anything that isn't made by Apple. Windows is trying to turn all of their customers into data points, and Linux is just more compatible with gaming and devices than Apple devices are, not as creepy as what MS is heading toward...
I think what we need to do, as a community, is to help onboard these wayward people, and give them a safe port to park their boats!
Patreon
PayPal
See more from me