Published , by Asif Khan
Published , by Asif Khan
The Epic Games Store has had its share of backlash over the past few weeks. The most recent Internet kerfuffle surrounds Chinese company Tencent's investment in Epic Games. Some trolls and misinformed individuals have spread the rumor that Epic Games Store is actually Chinese spyware. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney took to Twitter to set the record straight.
Here's Tim Sweeney's full statement posted to his personal Twitter page:
I support everyone’s right to complain about tech industry stuff. Epic’s store, with exclusive games and a spartan feature set, is a fine target for ire. But please help separate facts and opinions from the lies about spyware and foreign control.
I’m the controlling shareholder in Epic Games, and have been since 1991. We have a number of outside investors now. Tencent is the largest. All of Epic’s investors our friends and partners. None can dictate decisions to Epic. None have access to Epic customer data.
Tencent is a Chinese company founded in 1998. CEO Pony Ma and the other co-founders played a lot of Unreal Tournament back then, and visited Epic in the early 2000’s. In 2012 Epic was looking to move to online games, and we invited Tencent in as an investor to help us.
I’ve never regretted it, and the recent anti-China rage doesn’t change that even slightly, as its completely unfounded. Epic has only had positive interactions with Tencent at all levels.
All of Epic’s big decisions are made here in the USA and as CEO I’m 100% responsible for them. I’m grateful for everyone who has spoken in support. I also read and respectfully consider all dissenting arguments of fact and principle. Just please keep it real.
We caught up with Tim Sweeney at GDC 2018 and chatted with him about Tencent's investment. "They're just going around and making investments in companies they think have potential in the industry. They've been a good partner in just giving us advice, but we don't see them all that much actually," said Sweeney when asked about the relationship between Tencent and Epic Games.
Sweeney just wants people to tell the truth, and not spread damaging rumors. There are legitimate gripes to have with the Epic Games Store, but review bombing of the Borderlands series on Steam and spreading anti-China rumors on the Internet is not constructive. For now, it appears that the Epic Games Store is not a China spyware plot here to take all of our memes. The Launcher Wars are really bringing out the worst in people. We will continue to report from the frontlines as needed.