Thanks to devices such as the Steam Deck and Steam Machine, as well as the ongoing issues with Windows, gaming on Linux looks a lot more attractive over the last few years. Its biggest hurdle is still multiplayer games and their anti-cheat systems, but Epic Games is committed to bringing one of the biggest around to the operating system soon.
Epic Games has announced that it is working on a Linux version for Fortnite. It's going to act as a test for Epic's overhaul of EAC (Easy Anti-Cheat), its solution to those developing multiplayer games in Unreal Engine to prevent cheating (most recently used in Gears of War: E-Day). Epic says that it has offered Linux support for its current version of EAC, but that most developers (itself included) opted not to use it and instead omit Linux support entirely because of its inability to be as protective as its Windows version.
A native rebuild of EAC, that doesn't require translation layers such as Proton, would help Epic bring the software up to par with Windows, at which point it would be comfortable finally releasing a native Linux version of Fortnite. In a blog post, Epic says that once it has reached this stage, it will make this available to other developers, too.
"We are also planning to pilot EAC Linux v2 in Fortnite first, where we’ll test it in a live environment and refine it based on what we learn. Once we’ve validated EAC v2’s effectiveness, we’ll make it available to more game developers so they can bring their multiplayer games to Linux players too."
Epic hasn't shared a timeline for when it expects Fortnite on Linux, but does say that its pilot program will be available through its new Epic Game Store launcher. Announced at the same time, Epic has decided to follow through with its commitment to AI-developed software earlier this week, with the new launcher labelled as "vibe coded" because "programming is hard". This version is still in preview and lacks all of the features currently on the main version of the store launcher, but Epic says that it is already seeing some speed improvements (even if they're just a few seconds here or there).
That might be too steep a price to pay depending on your appetite for linking your credit card details to an app that is being iterated on without much (or any) human intervention. And it's already led to some strange bugs that certainly would've been caught without being rushed into the hands of users.
Earlier this week Epic Games reportedly delayed a Star Wars/ Marvel crossover title as the company pivots towards an "AI-first" production model that does away with "hand-written code."