Fortnite is coming to Linux!

Well it’s official, Fortnite is coming to Linux. 

While all the memes about Linux being better due to a lack of games like Warzone, Valorant and Fortnite will now become outdated, I remain very excited.

I’ll get the bad news out of the way, which is that if you're a Linux nerd running a custom Arch, Gentoo or even LFS, you likely won’t be able to play it. Yes, as of current it would appear Starch Linux and popular Arch based distributions like CachyOS won’t even be able to run it. For clarity, no hate to any listed distributions, while I’m not into Gentoo or LFS I do absolutely love CachyOS and all these distros are loved by many for good reason. 

The reason all of these systems likely won’t work is because of Epic’s security policy. Instead of running an invasive kernel level anti-cheat like they do on Winslop or using a less effective server-side anticheat, they decided to only allow usage on verified systems. Instead of their program reading files and processes, they are using existing Linux tooling to find cheats. These systems rely on;

• A trusted signed kernel
• Systemd
• Secure boot

There are other things in the mix, but these are the important ones. 

While many will be frustrated, I am actually overall very happy about this situation. While it may be annoying for many nerds to use a popular immutable or hand-holding debian based distro, I’m glad that it’s non-invasive and supports the Linux most people are actually using. 

If a lack of Fortnite support turns you away from Starch Linux, I totally understand. I will highly recommend Fedora KDE for those who enjoy using Starch Linux or those who have wanted to try it but want to play Fortnite. Fedora KDE runs the same KDE desktop and even has many of the same tools preinstalled for your usage. Fedora will treat you well. 

Happy gaming,

SethDoesTech