You can sign up to get a daily email of our articles, see the Mailing List page.
We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.

Microsoft has today announced that the massive free to play game Fortnite is now on Xbox Cloud Gaming, this makes it easier than ever to play it on Linux and Steam Deck. Of course, you first need to be registered with a Live / Xbox account but there's no subscription required to play this and overall it actually works far better than using GeForce NOW to stream it.

Tested working across both Chrome and Edge, at least until some day in the far future when Epic decide to get Fortnite running on Linux properly, this is likely the best way to do it.

For the Steam Deck specifically:

  1. Make sure Chrome is installed (available via the Non-Steam menu in the Steam Library), or via Discover in Desktop Mode.
  2. In Desktop Mode enter this into the Konsole terminal app: flatpak --user override --filesystem=/run/udev:ro com.google.Chrome
    This enables the Deck Gamepad controller to work.
  3. If you wish to auto-launch Xbox Cloud Gaming with Chrome, add this to the very end of the launch options (right click -> properties on Chrome in Steam): --window-size=1024,640 --force-device-scale-factor=1.25 --device-scale-factor=1.25 --kiosk "https://xbox.com/play"
  4. Go back to the main Gaming Mode on Steam Deck, tap Chrome in your Steam Library and set Steam Input (the Gamepad icon on the right) into Gamepad with Mouse Trackpad.
  5. Launch Chrome, and enjoy.

Here's a quick video of it in action:

YouTube Thumbnail
YouTube videos require cookies, you must accept their cookies to view. View cookie preferences.
Accept Cookies & Show   Direct Link

I also tested it working on my main Fedora Linux desktop and it works just fine in Chrome and Edge, although the resolution wasn't great on my 1080p monitor. On the Steam Deck, it looks just fine with the resolution.

This was possible with GeForce NOW (as shown by me before), but the experience is a lot more fluid and there's less hassle with launcher logins and Fortnite seems to perform a lot better this way too.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
11 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.
12 comments
Page: 1/2»
  Go to:

dude May 5, 2022
Man, fuck fortnite

Edit: Important news though


Last edited by dude on 5 May 2022 at 6:05 pm UTC
fagnerln May 5, 2022
Quoting: dudeMan, fuck fortnite

Edit: Important news though

I don't care about fortnite, but I love to see fortnite and EAC even that I don't play any of it.

Man, fuck Tim Sweeney
mr-victory May 5, 2022
Quotebut there's no subscription required to play this
How did I miss that part when reading the article for the first time...
So if sb invites me for Fortnite now I can actually say yes. EDIT: Region block :facepalm: (Yes I dualboot and yes Fortnite is installed by me (!) to Win but I never use it, it is for others)


Last edited by mr-victory on 5 May 2022 at 7:30 pm UTC
I don't care for Fortnite. However, the fact that you don't need a subscription has caught my attention. I hadn't considered trying it before because I don't like subscriptions. I hope they eventually extend this policy to other games that do interest me.

Meanwhile, Stadia lets you play all games on their store without a subscription. I remain disappointed that Stadia fared comparatively worse due to a combination of bad marketing, no first-party exclusives, and, ironically, people spreading FUD falsely claiming that you need a subscription to play on Stadia (which you don't.)
Purple Library Guy May 6, 2022
Quoting: RandomizedKirbyTree47and, ironically, people spreading FUD falsely claiming that you need a subscription to play on Stadia (which you don't.)
I think normally for something to qualify as FUD, it needs to be known to be false by the persons saying it, who are doing so because for other reasons they want to deep-six whatever they're criticizing. In the case of Stadia, most of the people saying it needed a subscription said that because they honestly thought it was the case, because Stadia were incredibly muddled in their messaging and it was actually hard to tell that you didn't need one. So that's not really FUD, even though it's inaccurate information and does make someone look bad.
lejimster May 6, 2022
I really dislike Epic these days, and I used to be a massive fan. So much so that I refuse to install their store, even with the promise of free games.

Still, I can see some people love games like Fortnite, so it's sad that Epic won't just enable anticheat for Linux and be done with it. Playing games through streaming services suck in my experience.
mr-victory May 6, 2022
Quoting: lejimsterPlaying games through streaming services suck in my experience.
I tried Fortnite on cloud too and it sucked hard both with 5 GHz WiFi and wired. Heavy (1 sec+) input lag, dropped frames, low resolution.(probably 720p) Hardly playable. Perhaps it has something to do with that I had to use VPN.
kokoko3k May 6, 2022
Quoting: mr-victory
Quoting: lejimsterPlaying games through streaming services suck in my experience.
I tried Fortnite on cloud too and it sucked hard both with 5 GHz WiFi and wired. Heavy (1 sec+) input lag, dropped frames, low resolution.(probably 720p) Hardly playable. Perhaps it has something to do with that I had to use VPN.
Highly probable.
In other cases, is a win, you'd need to be online anyway to play it, so what's left is a free game in a free streaming hosting, low power consumption on your device.


Last edited by kokoko3k on 6 May 2022 at 3:25 pm UTC
mr-victory May 6, 2022
Yes! And no wasted disk space!
Seriously, #FreeFortnite is real now You need sth very powerful to play it, Fortnite struggles maintaining 60 FPS on 1080p@High on my 3050 Laptop GPU.
Quoting: Purple Library Guy
Quoting: RandomizedKirbyTree47and, ironically, people spreading FUD falsely claiming that you need a subscription to play on Stadia (which you don't.)
I think normally for something to qualify as FUD, it needs to be known to be false by the persons saying it, who are doing so because for other reasons they want to deep-six whatever they're criticizing. In the case of Stadia, most of the people saying it needed a subscription said that because they honestly thought it was the case, because Stadia were incredibly muddled in their messaging and it was actually hard to tell that you didn't need one. So that's not really FUD, even though it's inaccurate information and does make someone look bad.
You're right. Thanks for the correction.
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.