-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
Tim Sweeney - No Plans for Fortnite to Support Steam Deck, No Confidence to Combat Cheating
- Thread starter dex3108
- Start date
Deleted member 44122
Guest
The easiest way would be putting Fortnite on Steam, it's never happening. Can't blame them either.
I imagine almost all Steam games will work somehow or another. It's just going to be your other launchers that probably won't. They have no incentive to.
That reason in the second tweet sounds like bs lol.
"We are unsure the anticheat solution that we are selling and saying it would work great in Linux would work great to our standards" (our standards still have cheating right now)
Even their original implementation of Proton support for EAC was basically a "good luck actually supporting it" as it required you to use the newest version that had to run with Epic Online Systems (not EAC standalone)
"We are unsure the anticheat solution that we are selling and saying it would work great in Linux would work great to our standards" (our standards still have cheating right now)
I mean, Fortnite is not on Steam so they have 0 desire to support anything that would make a Steam branded device better lol.
Even their original implementation of Proton support for EAC was basically a "good luck actually supporting it" as it required you to use the newest version that had to run with Epic Online Systems (not EAC standalone)
Not surprising given that Fortnite isn't on Steam. I imagine if you're gonna play it, you're either gonna have to fiddle with Proton/WINE, or install Windows on the Steam Deck to run non-Steam games.
lol I was gonna say "you could just play it on any other mobile device" but I forgot that's pretty much out the window too. Is it back on Android yet?
Considering Tim Sweeny's track record when tweeting, I presume the actual reason is the belief that Proton support would require listing the game on Steam. I'm doubtful this is accurate (Proton is open source, I'm not sure there's anything that would prevent Epic from implementing it into the Epic Games Client), but this is Tim Sweeny we're talking about, so who knows.
Also, nice job burying your own subsidiary, Timmy.
Because it's Linux. An open source OS with zero royalties. But closed platforms are better. So fuck making their software tools work properly with it. We all know closed platforms provide the superior option for gamers.
I think he just plainly doesn't want his cash cow appearing on Steam or even Steam branded devices. I'm not sure what sort of blackmail Valve used to get Epic actually do shit in regards of EAC lol. His statement about cheating is most likely bs tho.
lol this got me pretty good.
I accidentally fell off Fortnite super hard after they pulled it off the App store and it would've been awesome to play again on a non-Switch handheld.
Tim always has big problem with Linux. He has on multiple occasions crapped on Microsoft and Windows but he has always been 100% loyal to that platform and has taken a stand not to support Linux as if Linux did something to him or something. Way back in the day they use to support Linux with games like Unreal Tournament 2003/2004 but then he completely cut support for Linux and has been cagey about Linux support ever since.
After trying it once on switch I was like nope. It played infinitely better on my phone than it did on switch
Yep. Whether that's a good idea remains to be seen (there's a bunch of customisations being added to the Steam OS to make the handheld experience better, which likely won't be officially replicated in Windows), but if you absolutely want Fortnite on Deck (and don't want to use Geforce Now or streaming from another gaming PC) installing Windows will be the way to go.
Makes sense. In other threads we call all developers who don't solve cheating "lazy developers", and cross-play with platforms where cheating hasn't been solved as "game-ruining", so as much as it sucks his opinion here fits right in with the general consensus.
just gotta print up some hats, mobilize some kids, and we got a movement going!
That would require Epic's client to support Linux at all, which it currently doesn't sadly.
EAC isn't one thing, it's a collection of tools that a developer can use, and they can tolerate certain levels of risk factors in certain areas.
He's saying that the EAC framework is having compatibility work done on it, but that doesn't mean it will tell developers the answers they require about a given system, because some features are missing on a linux kernel.
It is exactly the same as how Netflix limits streaming on Chrome to Windows to 720 but permits 1080 on Chromebooks. They both use Widevine DRM, but the DRM system provides information to Netflix about what security features are available on that device (such as encrypting the video path) and the provider makes decisions about which of those things they're willing to tolerate the risk on and which they are not.
So the EAC framework will function, but there are certain things that Epic believes it needs to support for Fortnite that will come back as unsupported when the framework runs.
The original question was supporting the Deck through Linux. I'd imagine that had they been asked just about supporting the Deck they'd have suggested to install Windows 10/11 on it and play that way. Doesn't really make sense to make that kind of commitment to Linux just for Deck support. Then again if the Deck takes off and sells enough units they'll probably sing a different tune.
The thread title is kind of misleading since he's talking specifically about supporting the Deck through Linux. Who knows what they'd do for Windows support if anything. I'd imagine that Epic has to be doing at least something Deck related since a lot of their partners will want sell their UE games for Deck use.
The thread title is kind of misleading since he's talking specifically about supporting the Deck through Linux. Who knows what they'd do for Windows support if anything. I'd imagine that Epic has to be doing at least something Deck related since a lot of their partners will want sell their UE games for Deck use.
The deck can play games from other launchers afaik, including Game Pass
Doesn't have to support s Valve product, just Linux. Anyway, it'll run on the deck once you put Windows on it.
Well then my next question is what specific EAC features is Fortnite using that aren't going to be ported to Linux and what other non-Fortnite games use them? Because regardless of how it's being implemented, he's clearly positioning Fortnite's use case as being unique from other games that use EAC's framework in a (soon to be) Linux compatible way.
Like, it's weird to say that Linux prevents them from providing a good experience with their flagship game then turn around and say that other similar games that do use EAC "at scale" like R6 Siege and Apex will be fine. What makes Fortnite so special?
Edit: Valve's post about EAC/Proton support also says that "adding Steam Deck support to your existing EAC games is now a simple process, and doesn't require updating game binaries, SDK versions, or integration of EOS" without mentioning any specific feature exceptions, which definitely makes it seem like like they are treating EAC support like one thing.
Last edited:
Yeah that's probably the route I'm taking, but not for Fortnite. I'm making the deck my Gamepass handheld.
Imagine a world where Epic starts shipping hardware to compete with Steam, and what that'd do to their legal arguments against Apple. Potentially miss out on an emerging market, or shoot your legal campaign in the foot.
I mean Rocket League is marked as fully verified for Deck so they kinda are in some form.
As badass as I think the Steam Deck is, I don't think its wise for other companies to follow. It's not going to sell tens of millions. It makes sense for Valve, they already were working on the software to get games on Linux.
I mean, them turning around and going "look, we can support a hardware ecosystem with a 12% cut" would unironically be one of their better legal arguments (even if said hardware ecosystem cribbed heavily from what Valve is doing).
Not gonna lie a handheld with free weekly games sounds pretty entincing hahaha
Maybe its worth just installing windows on the deck.
People could always dual boot Windows. The Steam Deck is just a PC.
I do hate that they are going out of their way not to support the Steam Deck. I feel the reasoning they gave is somewhat disingenuous. My general understanding is limited, but I'm curious how they are going out of their way to make sure EAC is compatible and functional in Linux, but then argue that people having the freedom to choose kernels makes anti cheat support difficult/impossible in Fortnite? Isn't the to tool with kernel level permissions EAC itself?
I do hate that they are going out of their way not to support the Steam Deck. I feel the reasoning they gave is somewhat disingenuous. My general understanding is limited, but I'm curious how they are going out of their way to make sure EAC is compatible and functional in Linux, but then argue that people having the freedom to choose kernels makes anti cheat support difficult/impossible in Fortnite? Isn't the to tool with kernel level permissions EAC itself?