Fortnite is coming to Linux, and Epic's new launcher is out in preview today

Fortnite is coming to Linux. Epic Games confirmed it on Oct. 14 while it released a preview of its rebuilt Epic Games Launcher, which now runs natively on Linux for the first time, as well as on Windows and macOS. To get Fortnite there, Epic is rebuilding Easy Anti-Cheat for Linux and asking distribution maintainers to meet its security requirements. Epic has not set a date for Fortnite on Linux.

When Fortnite comes to Linux

Epic says it will bring Fortnite to Linux through the Epic Games Launcher once EAC Linux v2 works with a critical mass of distribution maintainers. It is reaching out to Linux community leaders now and will keep doing so in the coming weeks. Later this year, Epic will co-host a panel with Fedora Project Leader Jef Spaleta on fair competitive gaming on Linux.

Fortnite comes first: Epic plans to pilot EAC Linux v2 in Fortnite, refine it in a live game and then offer it to other developers so they can bring their multiplayer games to Linux too. Games that already use the older Linux version of Easy Anti-Cheat can choose to keep it for compatibility or switch to v2.

Why Fortnite needed a new anti-cheat. Easy Anti-Cheat has supported native Linux games since 2014 and Windows games running on Linux through Wine and Proton since 2021. That support is opt-in for each game, and Epic says many games never turned it on because the Linux version could not protect a game as well as the Windows one. On Windows, a kernel driver starts when a protected game launches and stops when you quit.

EAC Linux v2 does not use a kernel module. It relies on security features already built into Linux, plus an anti-cheat systemd service and Epic’s own eBPF programs. The service only runs while a protected game is open, and it checks your setup when the game starts. If your system does not meet the requirements, you see an error message, not a ban.

Some distributions do not turn all of these on by default. Epic says you can keep a separate boot entry that meets the requirements and pick it only when you want to play a protected game. Out-of-tree drivers, notably NVIDIA GPU drivers, must also be built and signed by an organization with a well-known key.

Epic’s starting list of well-known keys covers Ubuntu and distros built on it like Linux Mint, Fedora, Universal Blue distros such as Bazzite, Bluefin and Aurora, Debian, openSUSE, SUSE Linux Enterprise, Rocky Linux and AlmaLinux. Epic plans to grow the list and make it open source.

What about Steam Deck? Epic says the Steam Deck does not support the features EAC Linux v2 requires. It is actively talking with Valve, hopes to support Steam Deck in the future and wants to support Steam Hardware devices as far as is technically possible. Valve’s newest device is a VR headset that runs SteamOS: see our Steam Frame page.

Epic says it “vibe coded” the new launcher to make it faster and more responsive than the current one. It has a new look, a shopping cart, a page for every game, collections, grid and list views, live download speeds and parties with voice chat across Fortnite, the Epic Games Store and the Epic Games app. In tests Epic commissioned from Keywords Studios, it started in 5.47 seconds, which Epic says is 1.8 times faster than Steam. Epic calls this first release light on features, and some social and account options from the old launcher are still missing.

Two things to know before you install it. Trying the new launcher automatically uninstalls the old one, though your games, purchases, cloud saves and progress carry over. And Epic recommends that Fortnite and Rocket League players, and developers working on live projects, stay on the current launcher during the preview. Many games in your library are Windows-only builds and may need a compatibility layer on Linux.

This page is updated as soon as Epic announces a date for Fortnite on Linux, Steam Deck support or the full release of the new launcher.