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Journalism of Courage
In a series of tweets, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has stated that Fortnite will not be directly playable on Valve’s upcoming Steam Deck. Fortnite is not available on Steam, but since the handheld console is essentially a small Linux PC, it should, by design, be able to run it without any hitches.
Sweeney, however, has denied any updates, citing concerns with Proton – the compatibility layer that allows Windows games to run on Steam Deck’s OS. Turns out, Epic’s ‘Easy Anti-Cheat’ system is not compatible with Proton – “We don’t have confidence that we’d be able to combat cheating at scale under a wide array of kernel configurations including custom ones,” he said.
The threat model for an anti-cheat varies with the number of active players in different games. It is inconsistent, where while it might suffice for one game, it might not be enough for another game with “10, 100, or 1000 times more players” – especially when you have to bypass multiple compatibility layers. Elsewhere on the r/linux_gaming subreddit, folks are accusing Sweeney of being hostile towards gaming on open-source platforms.
Sweeney still assured that there is a “big effort underway” to maximise anti-cheat compatibility with Steam, though it could take some time. Ubisoft’s Rainbow Six Siege is another multiplayer shooter that relies on Easy Anti-Cheat services to limit hacking and unfair play in-game. As for whether the same rules apply here, will be revealed after February 25, 2022 – after Steam Deck’s launch.
When questioned about not wanting his “star game” on a rival platform, Sweeney stated that he would be happy to make Fortnite available on Steam, but is not looking forward to paying 20 to 30 percent of its earned revenue. “Supporting Steam Deck hardware is a separate issue, but the market for non-Steam-hosted games on limited availability Steam Deck hardware is how big exactly?”
Players who still intend to run Fortnite on their Steam Decks can do so by installing Windows operating system on their devices – which is totally possible, as stated by designer Lawrence Yang in an interview with IGN.
“We don’t think people should be locked into a certain direction or a certain set of software that they can install. If you buy a Steam Deck, it’s a PC. You can install whatever you want on it, you can attach any peripherals you want to it. Maybe a better way to think about it is that it’s a small PC with a controller attached as opposed to a gaming console,” it reads.
Valve has not fully outlined what the repercussions are for interfering and manipulating with the Steam Deck’s software, though normally, warranties are only voided when it has something to do with the hardware.
