Epic Games announced on October 14 that Fortnite is coming to Linux, tied to a rebuilt version of its anti-cheat software called Easy Anti-Cheat (EAC) Linux v2. Epic has not given a release date.
In a blog post, Epic said EAC has supported native Linux game clients since 2014 and Windows builds running through Wine and Proton since 2021. That support is opt-in for each game, however, and Epic said many developers had not enabled it because the Linux implementation could not offer the same level of protection as the Windows one. Epic named that gap as the reason Fortnite has not been available on Linux.
How EAC Linux v2 works
On Windows, EAC relies on a kernel driver that runs while a game is open. The Linux version will not use an equivalent kernel module. Epic said it will instead rely on existing platform security features, listing signed kernels and kernel modules, secure boot with attestation, measured boot, the kernel lockdown LSM and IOMMU support, alongside its own eBPF logic. Dexerto reports that the requirements also include TPM 2.0. Not every distribution offers these features, and some may need configuration changes before a protected game will launch.
Players who try to launch a protected game without meeting the requirements will see an error message rather than an account ban, Epic said.
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 the system is validated, Epic plans to offer it to other developers so they can bring multiplayer games to Linux. Studios that already use EAC can keep the older, more compatible Linux implementation if they prefer, according to Rock Paper Shotgun.
No Steam Deck support yet
Epic's FAQ states that the Steam Deck does not support the features EAC v2 requires, and that the company is talking with Valve and hopes to support the device in the future. Rock Paper Shotgun reports that the announcement accompanied a preview release of a new version of the Epic Games Launcher that runs on Linux.
