The reason for those requirements is Easy Anti-Cheat, the Epic-owned anti-cheat service used in Fortnite and dozens of other games, including Apex Legends, Rocket League, Dead by Daylight and Elden Ring. The service does support Linux, and some of those games already run there, but many developers choose not to enable it because, as Epic has explained, its Linux implementation could not offer the same level of protection as the Windows version. That gap is why many Easy Anti-Cheat games are not playable on the Steam Deck or Steam Machine, Valve's SteamOS handheld and PC.

Epic's plan is to lean on Linux features such as a signed kernel, signed kernel modules and secure boot with attestation, aiming to bring protection "much closer to par with Windows". Because Linux distros differ from one another, each would need to implement the requirements individually, though Epic notes the more distributions that meet them by default, the fewer players will need to change their setup. Valve is named specifically, with Epic saying it will keep an open line of communication to support Steam hardware "to the maximum extent technically possible".

Even if the critical mass never materialises, Epic says its work will be available to other developers interested in bringing their games to Linux. Easy Anti-Cheat will test the plans in Fortnite first before opening them up, so a Fortnite release date on Linux would itself be the signal that the approach is paying off.