TIM VS. GOLIATHS
“Fortnite” creator faces uphill antitrust battle against Apple, Google.
SAN FRANCISCO — Tim Sweeney, chief executive and founder of video game maker Epic Games, has antagonized the world’s most powerful technology giants since at least 2016.
That year, Sweeney, a selfdescribed computer nerd with a slightly nervous energy, lashed out in an op-ed against Microsoft, saying it was attempting “sneaky maneuvers” to dominate personal computer games. He also knocked Facebook’s Oculus Rift app store as “disappointing” for not being as “open” as it claimed.
In 2018, Sweeney went at it again. He launched “Fortnite,” Epic’s popular video game, outside Google’s Play Store to bypass its app store fees, which he called a “tax” and “disproportionate.” And in January at an industry conference, he declared that “undue power has accrued to many of the participants who are not at the core of the industry.”
His mission to rein in the power of the tech companies has now reached a fever pitch. Sweeney is preparing for a protracted legal battle after Apple and Google banned Fortnite, which is played by more than 350 million people, from their stores this month for trying to get around its payment systems. In response, Epic sued both companies, accusing them of violating antitrust laws by forcing developers to use those payment systems.
Sweeney’s yearslong public crusade against the tech goliaths suggests that the issue is not something he will easily drop. People close to him said the fight was not about money or ego. Instead, they said, it is firmly about principle.
“He sees a vision of the world that is fair and open,” said Bradley Twohig, a venture capitalist at Lightspeed Venture Partners, which has invested in Epic.
Bruce Stein, chief executive of esports startup aXiomatic and an investor in Epic, said, “He was principled before he had the money to not be principled.”
How deeply Sweeney feels about tech power will be key as the fight with Apple and Google escalates. On Monday, a judge in the U.S. District Court of Northern California heard arguments about whether to grant Epic a restraining order against Apple. Epic sought the order last week after Apple cut off its support for an Epic software development tool, Unreal Engine, an action that Sweeney called an “existential threat” to Epic’s $17 billion business.
In an interview last month, Sweeney, 49, said the stakes of the antitrust investigations into tech giants like Apple and Google were no smaller than the future of humanity. “Otherwise you have these corporations who control all commerce and all speech,” he said. He declined to be interviewed for this article, citing the active lawsuits, but has written on Twitter that he is “fighting for open platforms and policy changes equally benefiting all developers.”
“I don’t think we are going to be swayed unless we get what we think is right,” Adam Sussman, Epic’s president, said in an interview Monday. “We will always sacrifice short term for long term.”
Other developers have embraced Epic’s cause. Spotify, the music streaming app, and Match Group, the maker of dating apps like Tinder, have released statements applauding Epic’s moves. In a legal brief Sunday, Epic also outlined Microsoft’s support.
But to many others, Sweeney faces an uphill battle. In conversations with a dozen of Epic’s investors and former executives, as well as with deal-makers and analysts in the gaming industry, many said that while they supported Sweeney’s stance, few expected him to prevail in all of his demands against Apple and Google.
“It’s a herculean uphill battle for them to beat Apple in court,” said Dan Ives, an analyst with Wedbush Securities, because Epic violated the terms of the App Store.
Asked for comment, Apple referred last week to its latest legal filing, in which it said Epic’s “‘emergency’ is entirely of Epic’s own making.” Google said it would “welcome the opportunity to continue our discussions with Epic and bring Fortnite back to Google Play.”
Over the years, Sweeney also worked diligently to keep control of Epic, which is privately held. In 2012, when
Epic considered selling itself, it found two options: It could sell a majority stake in its operations to Warner Bros. for roughly $800 million, or sell a minority stake for the same valuation to Tencent, the Chinese internet company, a person with knowledge of the discussions said.
Even though the Warner plan had more potential business advantages, Epic went with Tencent, which kept Sweeney in control.
Sweeney has backed down once from a fight with a tech giant. In April, two years after releasing Fortnite outside the Google Play Store, Epic agreed to offer the game through the store. It said it was doing so because users were encountering “scary, repetitive security pop-ups” to download and update the app outside the Play Store.
Even so, Sweeney was not afraid to thumb his nose at the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. This month, Epic started encouraging Fortnite’s mobile-app users to pay it directly, rather than through Apple or Google. That violated Apple’s and Google’s rules that they handle all such app payments so they can collect their 30 percent commission.
In response, Apple banned Fortnite from its store; Google later did the same.