Epic releases Linux binaries for Unreal Engine 5
Joy for Linux game designers, but Epic could do more.
Epic Games, the developer of video games such as Unreal Tournament and
Fortnite, is also behind the popular
Unreal Engine, which is used by a whole range of game developers to create modern, graphically impressive titles. While the company is often accused of overlooking Linux gamers, especially compared to its main rival Valve, there’s some good news for developers. The company has now released the official binaries of Unreal Engine 5 (UE5) on Linux, which you can download from https://bit.ly/lxf293ue5.
You’ll need an Epic Games account, which is free. You’ll also need to be running Ubuntu 22.04 64-bit, have 60GB of disk space and have a graphics card with 8GB memory or higher. Users have reported it works on other distros, too. This should make installing the software on Linux much easier because there’s no need to mess around with complex compiles. You’ll need the compiler tool clang, and an IDE as well. Most game devs should have those already, however.
This move is welcome because it’ll enable game developers using Linux to more easily create games using UE5, and that should hopefully lead to more developers using Linux, and an increasing number of games that can run natively on Linux.
Epic still has a long way to go with Linux support, because many of its titles are Windows-only. Meanwhile, its Epic Games Store launcher doesn’t have a Linux version – people have resorted to third-party apps such as the Heroic Games Launcher (https://bit.ly/ lxf293heroic) to launch Epic Games Store games, which isn’t a great look. We hope this new move leads to Epic better embracing Linux in the future. The fact that it’s also just joined the Open 3D Foundation (https://bit.ly/lxfo3df) is another step in the right direction.