Check out our Monthly Survey Page to see what our users are running.
We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.
For those that don't know, or forgot, the new Unreal Tournament does in fact have a Linux version. I check on it now and then and it's really starting to come together.

Here's a video of me doing terribly:
YouTube Thumbnail
YouTube videos require cookies, you must accept their cookies to view. View cookie preferences.
Accept Cookies & Show   Direct Link
That map brings back some awesome memories of playing the original Unreal Tournament!

The new Unreal Tournament is completely free, without any form of pay to win rubbish. It has source code access available, but it is not open source as it uses their own license.

They will be making money using the marketplace where they will take a cut from sales of modifications. You could sell hats, mods, maps, whatever. The core game will always be free.

The Linux version still isn't officially supported just yet, but they are responding to bugs and making steps towards making it properly official.

If you want to try it, you have to be logged into their forum and visit this forum post for the download link. It's 6.1GB, so it's not exactly a small download.

You will also need to do a few quick things to get it launched. Which I will note for you now.

First of all you need to make the game actually have permissions to be launched which can be found at:
/LinuxNoEditor/Engine/Binaries/Linux/UE4-Linux-Shipping

Then you need to launch it with "UnrealTournament" appended to it, or just use a launcher file like I do:
#!/bin/bash
cd $HOME'/Downloads/LinuxNoEditor/Engine/Binaries/Linux/'
./UE4-Linux-Shipping UnrealTournament


One of the maps does have a major bug right now which is Outpost23. It will be extremely white, as it seems to have no shadows anywhere. I reported it to the developers and the bug report has been marked as a Major issue, so someone will get to it soon.

Apart from that, it seems to run very nicely. It detects the correct monitor on a dual-monitor setup and sets the right resolution on my 4K monitor too, so it's pretty hassle free once you get going. It's a lot smoother than it was when I tried it a while back, and it's actually really fun already.

It's great that we get such games on Linux, as Unreal Tournament used to be such a big name and it's looking like it may well be again when this releases in full. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
2 Likes
About the author -
author picture
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
See more from me
The comments on this article are closed.
30 comments
Page: «3/3
  Go to:

Liam Dawe May 18, 2016
Quoting: GoboThanks for the heads up on threaded optimizations and the openGL4 parameter, I never understood why the autodetect option always turned every gfx option to "low"... now it looks nice and is performing as expected!

But maybe I got another stupid question: How do I enable the launcher on linux? I'd like to check out the marketplace and some of those maps advertised in the quick challenge menu.
From what I understand the launcher doesn't currently support Linux. One of the reasons the Linux version isn't yet properly supported.
D34VA_ May 18, 2016
Quoting: Pecisk
Quoting: aFoxNamedMorrisOn my end, the game renders with lots of square planes and missing textures if I run in GL4 mode. Also, to use the 'Epic' settings, I have to set them to 'High' and back to 'Epic'.

Free drivers? Check out for missing texture compression.

Nope. Proprietary. :/ Trust me, I'm no noobie. I've been running Linux based OS's for 10 years, gaming for five. I don't plan on using the open drivers with Nvidia graphics until they match or surpass the proprietary drivers.
nifker May 18, 2016
it is open source but they just have some extra terms.
bubexel May 18, 2016
When they will implement vulkan on it? any clue?
stss May 18, 2016
Quoting: bubexelWhen they will implement vulkan on it? any clue?
It's already been implemented in UE4, so I guess it's just a matter of waiting for UT to update to the right engine version.
Kuduzkehpan May 18, 2016
greate efforts. thx to all.
theRealPadster May 19, 2016
I have this weird problem where whenever I click, it rotates me by about 60 degrees. I can click and hold to continue shooting and spin myself around, but each click rotates me. Uh, what?
Liam Dawe May 19, 2016
Quoting: nifkerit is open source but they just have some extra terms.
Unless it is under a license approved by the FSF it's not open source. Or so people say.
STiAT May 19, 2016
Quoting: liamdawe
Quoting: nifkerit is open source but they just have some extra terms.
Unless it is under a license approved by the FSF it's not open source. Or so people say.

It is open source. It's not free in terms of freedom. That's the difference ;-).
psy-q May 20, 2016
Quoting: STiAT
Quoting: liamdawe
Quoting: nifkerit is open source but they just have some extra terms.
Unless it is under a license approved by the FSF it's not open source. Or so people say.

It is open source. It's not free in terms of freedom. That's the difference ;-).

It's neither free software nor open source. It's freeware with very specific license terms and requiring two agreements by the player at the moment. The system is so restrictive that they don't even let you read the EULA without having an Epic account and agreeing to the Epic account terms.

Under the UE4 license terms, you are not allowed to even share your own source code that's using UE4, unless all recipients of your source code have also agreed to the license terms of the UE4 engine. Source: Epic Games.

The UE4 engine is a weird blob of "free to use, sort of, but not really usable in FOSS projects, certainly incompatible with any and all FOSS licenses, oh, and do make sure you don't share any of the 'free' assets that are included with it, OK? If do, the punishable party is you, just so you know."

Dumping some source code on the world != open source.

Edit: Heh, just to make you laugh, here's a good section of the UE4 license:

QuoteNon-Compatible Licenses

You may not combine, Distribute, or otherwise use the Licensed Technology with any code or other content which is covered by a license that would directly or indirectly require that all or part of the Licensed Technology be governed under any terms other than those of this Agreement ("Non-Compatible License" ). Code or content under the following licenses, for example, are prohibited: GNU General Public License (GPL), Lesser GPL (LGPL) (unless you are merely dynamically linking a shared library), or Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Code or content under the following licenses, for example, are allowed: BSD License, MIT License, Microsoft Public License, or Apache License. You may not sublicense the Licensed Technology under a Non-Compatible License.

They exclude the most important free software license and a popular permissive content license by choosing terms that are incompatible with them, and they make sure you know that by explicitly listing it :)


Last edited by psy-q on 20 May 2016 at 10:29 am UTC
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
The comments on this article are closed.