Can You Play 'Fortnite' on Steam Deck? Tim Sweeney Says No

Since the Steam Deck launch is less than a week away, some fans are curious if they can play "Fortnite" on the device. Unfortunately, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said they had no plans to optimize "Fortnite" for Steam Deck.

Steam Deck is a handheld gaming computer developed and manufactured by Valve Corporation. Previous articles tease that it will use a Linux-based OS, which means it will perform like a small gaming computer.

Ideally, this implies the game console will be capable of loading games compatible with PC. However, Sweeney explained the situation would be a lot more complicated.

'Fortnite' Steam Deck: Tim Sweeney Tweets

The first question about "Fortnite" on Steam Deck started with Twitter user Storm178. The fan had casually asked Sweeney if the company had plans to "update Fortnite to make Proton/Wine be compatible with EAC and BattlEye anti-cheat on Linux?"

Fortnite no, but there's a big effort underway to maximize Easy Anti Cheat compatibility with Steam Deck.
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) February 7, 2022

Sweeney promptly replied "Fortnite no," but he shared that the company is trying to "maximize Easy Anti Cheat compatibility with Steam Deck."

Since the response sounded roundabout, Twitter user Blaster Linux continued the Twitter thread with a question "why not?"

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.
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) February 7, 2022

Sweeney answered they are not confident about their system tracking "combat cheating at scale under a wide array of kernel configurations including custom ones."

Some fans obviously thought the situation was ridiculous. One commenter pointed out that Epic Games "CEO does not trust his own product."

With regard to anti-cheat on the Linux platform supporting custom kernels and the threat model to a game of Fortnite's size, YES THAT'S EXACTLY RIGHT!
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) February 7, 2022

Sweeney agreed, saying the "anti-cheat on the Linux platform supporting custom kernels" is risky to rely on with a game of Fortnite's size.

Steam Deck Issues and Easy Anti-Cheat Updates

Note that Easy Anti-Cheat is owned by Epic Games. According to PCgamer, it is designed to support most of the games on Steam Deck. This is why many fans find it ironic that Sweeney can ensure the security of other games but not their own "Fortnite."

However, Sweeney also introduced valid concerns in his tweets. He pointed out that "Fortnite" was too vulnerable to cyber-attacks because of its massive file size. Simply put, the bigger the game gets, the more opportunities malicious actors have to exploit the system.

Epic Games is probably trying to avoid the trouble by completely removing the option of "Fortnite" running on Steam Deck.

According to IGN, fans should keep in mind that the company is not completely precluding the game from Steam Deck. In fact, players might still be able to play "Fortnite" in Steam Deck. However, they should first install the Windows program in the gaming console, rather than relying on Steam Deck's default settings.

The situation is still progressing, so it's hard to determine whether Epic Games plans to upgrade its system in the future or if it has truly made up its mind about "Fortnite" and Steam Deck. Fans should watch out for more updates, which can drop in the coming weeks.