Epic Games Wants Linux Gamers. It's Rebuilding EAC For Fortnite

Linux gamers have gotten used to hearing that yet another multiplayer title is cutting off the platform due to a variety of reasons, though most of their arguments usually sound lazy to me.

Take Ubisoft, for instance. They recently stopped For Honor from being playable on Linux and the Steam Deck, saying that they could not meaningfully deploy protection for the platform.

Now we have Epic Games swaying the other way, rebuilding its Linux anti-cheat under a new name while also offering a preview release for the long-requested native Epic Games Launcher.

Anti-cheat on Linux isn't some pipe dream

Easy Anti-Cheat has supported native Linux games since 2014 and Windows games running through Wine or Proton since 2021. Epic is now rebuilding that Linux implementation into EAC Linux v2, aiming to get much closer to Windows by leaning on security features Linux already has.

On Windows, EAC relies on a kernel driver that is active only during play. On Linux, EAC Linux v2 won’t have such a module acting in one of the most sensitive parts of the system.

That matters because kernel-level anti-cheat is a common sticking point for Linux gamers.

EAC Linux v2 runs a systemd service that stays active just for the length of a protected game session, alongside eBPF programs written by Epic that watch for tampering and cheats.

For players, this means a stricter boot setup, so Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 need to be on, the kernel has to be signed with a key Epic recognizes, and several other boot and kernel settings come into play.

EAC checks all of this only when a protected game launches, and failing the check brings up an error, not a ban. Players can also keep a separate boot entry for protected games and run their own keys elsewhere.

Testing the waters

Fortnite will be the first game to test EAC Linux v2, with plans to open it to other developers once the system is validated. Developers with games already on EAC for Linux can stay on the older version or switch.

Getting Fortnite itself onto Linux depends on distro support. It will arrive through the new launcher (shown below) once enough maintainers meet the security requirements.

The preview officially supports Ubuntu 22.04 LTS or newer, Fedora 43 or newer, and Debian 12 or newer, while other distros may work but are not officially tested.

The launcher itself runs natively, but many games are Windows-only, so they may need a compatibility layer like Wine or Proton to run.

The community needs to step in

Epic is reaching out to Linux community leaders and inviting distro maintainers to get in touch since protected games will only launch on systems booted with keys from a trusted list.

It is maintained in-house for now, with the goal of going open source sometime down the line.

They already seem to be in touch with Fedora, as a panel scheduled for later this year names Fedora Project Leader Jef Spaleta as a co-host, with the talk centered on enabling fair competitive gaming on Linux.

SteamOS is the next obvious name to bring up, but the Steam Deck doesn't meet the requirements yet. Talks with Valve are ongoing, with the aim of supporting the handheld later.

While it's still early, this is good news for gamers on Linux, as this is a platform that keeps getting shown the proverbial middle finger when it comes to gaming.

Suggested Read 📖: Last month, I spent some time with GeForce NOW on Linux to see if it's gameable.

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