This article goes more into how EAC for Linux is being altered. Basically EAC can run with ring 0 access on windows machines to prevent cheats, but on Linux it doesn’t have the same level of invasive access. This is better for user privacy, but also limits its ability to prevent cheating.
The upcoming EAC Linux v2 will fall into a middle ground between the two, and will require the kernel to be signed with a key Epic recognizes. The system will also have to have TPM 2.0 and secure boot enabled. I recommend reading the article for more details.
Needs TPM, Secure Boot, and restricted Distros. Naw Dawg… I’m good.
Lot of loopholes to jump through for something not many people want
People with Steam decks, for example, would have access to EAC titles. I think it is worth it financially for Epic.
EAC already worked on Linux. Tim Swiney just wants to enshittify Linux because he’s a POS
so Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 need to be on
Nah, fuck off and stick to Windows.
Umm maybe it’s just me and my distro, but using secure boot won’t even let my Nvidia drivers run, soooo…
Although I’m not as familiar with the TPM, being knowing that Win11 needed it for some goddamn reason. I’ve never even noticed a setting for it or whether it’s on or off (never had a reason to care).
These are some reasons I stopped using Windows in the first place. I don’t need an evil corpo telling me what settings I must use so they can hide what there doing.
Exactly. When I first switched to Win10 (after it itself was just a free upgrade for me from 7, which I thought was odd for a corporate product), and saw the candy crush thing and (fuck I swear there was a second thing there, but I can’t remember) whatever that other thing was already sitting in the start menu, I knew on day 1 that that was gonna be my last version of Windows.
And then it got worse and worse. Luckily I’m that same time Linux was making huge strides with Wine and other compatibility tricks that by the time I got off the MS train I lost nothing as far as gaming potential, just maybe added a few minor snags to get everything nice.
Fuck off and do the anticheat server side, stingy cunts.
Cheap bastards can’t even do the shit we were taught in college: always validate inputs server-side too!
No thanks. Piss off Timmy boy
Yeah Sweeny has been an outspoken hater of Linux his entire life. Now that its gaining marketshare, hes flip flopping. Fuck off Timmy boy
OG Unreal Tournament games had native Linux versions, even as late as 2016 when Epic was developing a (now cancelled) 4th UT title.
But then Fortnite happened and Epic switched from supporting Linux to antagonising it as it’s Valve’s platform thus enemy’s platform (his reaction, probably).
Fortnite must be hemmoraging players for them to do this.
This is a good thing. Yes, it’s not perfect. Yes, Fortnite and Epic are not great. But it’s so exhausting when people say “you can’t game on Linux” because games like Fortnite don’t work on Linux. The argument I always make in response is that it’s like saying you can’t game on a Gameboy because it doesn’t have Fortnite.
The main reason for a lot of people not switching to Linux is because they only play games like Fortnite (competitive multiplayer games with aggressive anti cheat) and those games don’t work on Linux. (Marvel Rivals being the big exception to the rule.) Fortnite supporting Linux in some form will bring more users to Linux. More users on Linux will mean more studios view it as profitable to support.
So, yes, this is a good thing. Yes, I fully admit it’s not perfect, but it’s a huge step I think most of us can admit we never saw happening.
Epic doesn’t care about Linux gamers. This is an AI publicity stunt. The app does not work and probably never will.
Epic doesn’t care about
Linuxgamers. FTFYThis article is about EAC, not their new app.
Same same
A good move from a bad actor. I wonder if they will release a native version or use proton (with another name, because of course).
This and the forced open sourcing of Photoshop is destroying windows moats.
Well well well, fortnite losing tons of players, epic firing thousands of devs … suddenly the people that are switching to linux getting more relevant huh timmy.
You can go fuck yourself tho.
Stick it up your ass, Tim Sweeney (the bitch).
EAC Linux v2 runs a systemd service that stays active just for the length of a protected game session, alongside eBPF programs written by Epic that watch for tampering and cheats.
For players, this means a stricter boot setup, so Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 need to be on, the kernel has to be signed with a key Epic recognizes, and several other boot and kernel settings come into play.
EAC checks all of this only when a protected game launches, and failing the check brings up an error, not a ban. Players can also keep a separate boot entry for protected games and run their own keys elsewhere.
So I guess MOK is not supported? That would make it impossible to play with Nvidia drivers because they need a MOK for signing.
Using eBPF is actually a pretty neat idea, but I guess MOK would be too easy of a bypass because you can sign your own kernel modules and just do whatever in kernel space.
It’s way better than a crappy kernel module but I wonder if hackers will actually abuse this for access over windows, especially when the Android version is also right there without any significant anticheat.
Is the OS remaining secure and private with the anticheat that is requiring tpm, secure boot, etc?
Or like the Windows anticheat is it going to be able to access all the files on the PC?
My understanding is that there’s a systemd service that runs only when the game runs, and that uses ePBF to restrict read/write access to the game files while it’s running (to prevent tampering). The tpm/secure boot/recognized kernel part is to make sure the user doesn’t have a modified kernel that will lie to the anti-cheat.
If everything works like they say, they shouldn’t have access to the non-game files and no direct kernel access. So privacy should be maintained, and theoretically no risk of a EAC bug or exploit causing a full system crash.
Overall it sounds much better to me than windows anti-cheat, but that’s a pretty low bar.
Overall it sounds much better to me than windows anti-cheat, but that’s a pretty low bar.
I think all the things you are saying are just claims. As far as I understand it, this will be closed source software that runs as root, so basically it’s just trustmebro, the same as on Windows. I’m not a systemd expert, but seems challenging to fulfill the part where it “only runs when the game runs”.
I’m curious how effective it will be, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with leveraging secure boot to verify the kernel is unmodified, but does this mean dkms won’t be supported?
Dkms modules would have to be on an approved list I think.
Agreed to your comment. Only problem i have with it is that i use mainline to get latest kernels, and that wont work (kernel is not signed). Other than that, sounds good tbh
Still not gonna run epic stuff, but technically it sounds goodYou can have multiple kennels installed, so you could normally boot with mainline, but if you wanted to play a EAC game you could reboot with an approved kernel.
Oh i know i can. I always have latest mainline + latest supported incase i run into issues. I just dont want to reboot to play games. Might as well use windows for gaming then :)
Please keep that on windows, exclusively. Forever.
All you have to do is say fuck almost all the reasons i switched to linux and BAM youll be playing a shitty free2play royal rumble shooter in no time!
