With just a few days to go before the Steam Deck launches, there is already a lot of expectation about the number of games that the handheld console will be able to offer from day one. The first reviews have just appeared this Wednesday, February 9, and most specialized portals have praised the platform. However, it’s not all good news for Valve, or at least those hoping for a no-holds-barred team. Fortnite, the popular Battle Royale of Epic Gameswould not be compatible.
The topic can be a bit confusing, as the creators of Fortnite they are one of the direct competitors of Valve and its popular online video game store Steam. Despite this, the complexity of the matter transcends the competition and would have to do with a technical aspect, according to the CEO of Epic Games himself.
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In principle, it is known that the Steam Deck can run the games that Valve offers in its popular virtual store from the factory. Even so, it was also clarified that the device is practically a laptop on which any other software can be installed, including an operating system and online stores such as Epic Games Store.
Now, before the imminent exit of the console, Tim SweneyCEO of Epic Games has come out to clarify certain points about whether Fortnite may or may not run in it, whatever procedure is done.
Initially, Sweeney praised Valve’s choice to base Linux on the Deck’s operating system, as it “will provide an open platform where users will be free to install the software of their choice.”
Still, he also added (in a long series of true-to-style tweets) that Fortnite it would be not compatible with the platform, due to the many cheats that could appear from that platform.
For Sweeney, the Steam Deck is such an open platform that many of its users could install bots and other cheat toolswhich are already very difficult to eradicate on PC.
In revealing this, many users reminded Sweeney that Fortnite has an anti-cheat system (Easy Anti-Cheat) that was changed just a few months ago. This is compatible with Linux, and would only require an update to make it fully compatible with the Steam Deck, but for the CEO, it wouldn’t be that easy.
Tim Sweeney’s response to a user. Photo: Twitter
After his comments, a user was encouraged to respond with a sarcastic message: “News flash: CEO does not trust his own product.” Sweeney answered directly: “Regarding the anti-cheat system on a Linux platform that supports custom kernels and the threat model to a game the size of Fortnite: yes, it is exactly like that.”
For now, it is only known that Fortnite could have compatibility problems in its Linux version, but fans have another way to play it on the Steam Deck: install Windows and use the version for said system.