Epic rebuilds Easy Anti-Cheat for Linux, starting with Fortnite

Epic is rebuilding Easy Anti-Cheat for Linux. In a 14 October post, the Epic Online Services team says EAC has supported native Linux games since 2014 and Wine/Proton builds since 2021, but many games never switched it on because Linux protection lagged behind Windows. That gap is why Fortnite isn't on Linux yet. Epic says it's coming.

EAC Linux v2 doesn't install a kernel module. It uses security features already in Linux, plus Epic's own eBPF logic, with a systemd service that only runs while a protected game is open. Epic lists eight requirements: a kernel and modules signed with a well-known key, TPM 2.0, Secure Boot, measured boot, IOMMU on non-handheld devices, kernel lockdown in integrity mode, kexec disabled and the BPF LSM active. Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian, openSUSE and Universal Blue (used by Bazzite) keys are on the current list. Players can keep a separate boot entry just for protected games.

Epic will pilot v2 in Fortnite first, then open it to more developers. Developers whose games already use EAC on Linux will be able to keep the older version for compatibility or move to v2. The Steam Deck doesn't support the required features yet; Epic says it is talking with Valve.

Why it matters: if you ship a multiplayer PC game with EAC, this is the route to protected Linux and Proton players. Expect some players to need setup changes, and watch for v2 opening up after the Fortnite pilot.