Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has said that Fortnite will not reach Steam Deck. Although the system is perfectly capable of running the game, the exec is concerned about the implementation of the console’s anti-cheat systems.
“There is a huge effort underway to maximize Easy Anti-Cheat compatibility with Steam Deck“Sweeney said from his Twitter account. He added: “we are not confident that we will be able to combat cheating at scale under a wide range of kernel configurations, including custom ones“.
The problem is that Steam Deck it’s basically a computer running Linux. As the operating system is open source, users have access to files that are otherwise hidden. This allows for all kinds of customization, but also creates problems for Easy Anti-Cheat, as its settings would also be accessible.
Tim Sweeney has said that Easy-Anti Cheat should work fine for most games on the Steam Deck. However, the executive pointed out that Fortnite is particularly vulnerable, presumably due to the sheer number of players in each match.
“The type of threat to anti-cheat systems varies by game based on the number of active players and the ability to profit by selling hacks or gain prominence by cheating.Sweeney said.Therefore, an anti-cheat that is sufficient for one game may not be sufficient for another with 10, 100 or 1,000 times more players, Fortnite is, in other words, high risk.“.
Some fans have been pointing out that Epic Games and Valve are big competitors, but it is unknown what impact this may have had on the decision to keep Fortnite off the Steam Deck.. In any case, the executive seems to have spoken for himself in this whole matter. Epic Games has not issued any statement in this regard.