Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney has reportedly accused prominent executives of cozying up to President-elect Donald Trump in an attempt to influence anti-competitive policies.
Sweeney shared his thoughts on the social media platform X, which is famously owned by Trump’s supporter, Elon Musk. He highlighted growing concerns about the relationship between big tech and the incoming administration.
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“After years of pretending to be Democrats, Big Tech leaders are now pretending to be Republicans, in hopes of currying favor with the new administration. Beware of the scummy monopoly campaign to vilify competition law as they rip off consumers and crush competitors,” Sweeney’s social media post said.
Epic Games, however, has been criticized by fans and consumers alike over the years for its very intimate relationship with China. Epic Games, the creator of “Fortnite” and “Unreal Engine,” has had a significant relationship with China. One of the key aspects of this is the partnership with Tencent, a giant Chinese gaming company. Tencent bought a large stake in Epic Games in 2012, allowing Epic to tap into China’s massive gaming market.
“Fortnite,” Epic’s most famous game, was launched in China with help from Tencent. However, it faced challenges. The Chinese government has strict rules about what content can be shown in games. Epic had to make changes, such as removing blood, violence, and certain symbols, to comply with these rules. Despite these efforts, “Fortnite” was shut down in China in 2021 due to new gaming regulations that limited children’s playtime.
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Epic’s “Unreal Engine,” a popular tool for making games, is widely used in China by both local and international developers. Tencent also uses it for their own games.
Sweeney has bent over backwards to have his business succeed in China, which has not gone over well with many stateside. Sweeney has criticized Apple and Google because of his ongoing struggles with them over how apps are sold on smartphones. Sweeney believes that gamemakers should be able to sell games on iPhones and Android phones without having to use Apple’s or Google’s official app stores and payment systems. He thinks the way things are set up now gives too much control to Apple and Google over the mobile market.
Considering his business history, his protests may very well fall on deaf ears.
1 Comment
Bad move, Sweeney. Not a good idea to get caught up on politics but, Sweeney does look a little Special Needs. Trump’s a big name in America right now you don’t really want to anger your potential and current customers. If Trump starts delivering on his promises and getting things done, that’s only gonna further his backing and support and then what’ve you done Sweeney? You just got caught up in the politics game Sega of old knew better to stay out of: “It’s business and politics meeting in the worst way, it’s bulls**t.” (Steve Race on Senate hearing concerning violence in games with Senator Liberman on the subject of Mortal Kombat and Sega getting it).