this post was submitted on 27 Jun 2026
331 points (96.6% liked)

Technology

86780 readers
3421 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related news or articles.
  3. Be excellent to each other!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, this includes using AI responses and summaries. To ask if your bot can be added please contact a mod.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
  10. Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.

Approved Bots


founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
 

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/49263187

Tim Sweeney claims it’s a “Scarlet Letter” which makes players “try to kill the game”

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has criticised rival Valve for forcing studios to disclose when they use AI in game development.

Epic recently showed how it was integrating AI into Unreal Engine 6.

Time Sweeney said:

“If you want to launch a game, and get it as widely publicized as possible, you’ve got to put it on Steam so people can wish list it, and if you want to play it on Steam, then you have to get this Scarlet Letter of AI attached to your product, and now there is a hater community trying to kill the game.

“I think it’s really irresponsible of Valve. They shouldn’t do it, because it makes it much, much, much harder for a game developer to have a chance of success. You have to choose from either not using tools that can make you way more productive, and probably failing due to competition that does.”

Which is totally ignoring the factor that the user should know about the purchase it makes and be able to decide for themselves. Transparency for the player is not a bad thing.

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] Kirp123@lemmy.world 180 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Fuck you Tim Sweeney. Valve is right for putting that info up so people can make informed purchases.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] renegadespork@lemmy.jelliefrontier.net 132 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Transparency so customers can make informed decisions is “irresponsible”? What a garbage take.

If using AI is a “scarlet letter” that makes people hate your game then don’t use it?! The willful ignorance to customer preference is staggering.

[–] TheGoldenV@lemmy.world 62 points 1 month ago (3 children)

The same people unironically: let the free market decide

[–] OwOarchist@pawb.social 24 points 1 month ago (1 children)

let the free market decide

But only if the 'free' market chooses me, otherwise, it's wrong and everything should be changed!

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] rockerface@lemmy.cafe 10 points 1 month ago

"No, not like that!"

[–] DonGirses@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago

free market is when I get money

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Telorand@reddthat.com 73 points 1 month ago

And this, Tim, is why I spend most of my money at Steam.

This may shock you, but proudly parading that you want to fuck over consumers at every opportunity is not good incentive.

[–] gedfromgont@piefed.ca 45 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Also Sweeney "why do people like Steam more than the Epic store?"

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 9 points 1 month ago

Truely a mystery. It's one of lifes great unknowns....

[–] ModernRisk@lemmy.dbzer0.com 33 points 1 month ago (2 children)

The more I read about Epic Games and their CEO Tim Sweeney, the more I dislike the company and the guy.

[–] thingsiplay@lemmy.ml 20 points 1 month ago (7 children)

They give you lot of reasons to. For me it was a personal thing when I really started to hate Epic Games. 2019 Epic purchased the studio of Rocket League, when the game was in a hype phase and I played and enjoyed it very much on my Linux system. Shortly after they removed the Linux support for the game and then they also removed it from Steam as well. Due to an update of the game it was no longer viable to support it on Linux they said.

This really really bugged me on a personal level. Today I think the game is playable on Linux, I don't know exactly. But it requires Epic Games Launcher and probably account on them. To me the game is dead. And Epic killed it (for me).

load more comments (7 replies)
[–] olympicyes@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago

Sweeney doesn’t like games, he’s just into programming and game engines. That might help the disconnect between him and gamers.

[–] Soup@lemmy.world 31 points 1 month ago

Super strong “If I told you who I really was you’d never have slept with me!” energy.

It’s called consent. If people wouldn’t want to engage with the content unless they were misled in some way then that amounts to manipulation and a violation of trust. Looks like Epic Games just told the whole world that they would lie to their customers if they felt like the truth would give them too much choice.

Fuck ‘em.

[–] geekwithsoul@piefed.social 30 points 1 month ago (3 children)

The best thing about Tim Sweeney is that he consistently has the most wrong take on any issue. He's like the Lou Gehrig of being an idiot.

[–] Escape13@slrpnk.net 16 points 1 month ago

I have yet to read a headline where is not being dull doorknob licker

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] shittydwarf@piefed.ca 27 points 1 month ago
[–] binux@sh.itjust.works 26 points 1 month ago

Bitch-boy CEO whining about rival company that epitomizes everything he doesn’t have at every chance he gets, very typical behaviour just carry on

[–] tabular@lemmy.world 25 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (5 children)

"We must do X at any cost to the user because others will do it and get the money"

This mentality has driven the games industry to become psychologically manipulative, subscription battleass and absolutely proprietary.

Maybe the irresponsibility is in ourselves for giving those game companies money.

[–] Quazatron@lemmy.world 11 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I've done my part and closed my account. Those freebies were nice, but I'm not supporting that wanker.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] ChaosMonkey@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Not only the game industry. This is a widespread problem: greed.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (3 replies)
[–] skozzii@lemmy.ca 23 points 1 month ago

Tim Sweeney with a garbage take, seems like a normal day.

[–] Kissaki@feddit.org 23 points 1 month ago

Sugar labels on food didn't stop their sales 🤷

I don't see it. Disclosure is always a good thing.

Some people care, and they should have the option to choose. Not be misled, ignored, or lied to.

[–] tabular@lemmy.world 19 points 1 month ago (1 children)

"Think of the game-devs needing to make money" says a fat cat talking about a tool forged from game-dev's labour without compensation and disregarding any social contracts (i.e. copyleft software licenses).

[–] justOnePersistentKbinPlease@fedia.io 9 points 1 month ago (2 children)

"Think of the game devs needing to make money"

Says the former dev whose biggest success, Unreal Tournament, had little to do with Epic itself.

  1. Digital Extremes made the weapons and many of the default maps.
  2. Fan mods made most of the success of the first three games.

And Fortnite started as a Pubg clone.

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 11 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

And Fortnite started as a Pubg clone.

It actually started as an MMO PvE co-op thing. The BR was an addon jankily tacked on, and it just took off because BR was the hot new shit everyone wanted to play, and got bigger than the original concept.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] ada@lemmy.blahaj.zone 18 points 1 month ago

Interesting that he frames LLMs as both a tool that he needs to use to compete, whilst also framing their use as a scarlet letter that will tank sales if he uses them.

[–] guynamedzero@piefed.zeromedia.vip 16 points 1 month ago (1 children)

What kind of looney tunes universe does this motherfucker think he lives in

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Etterra@discuss.online 15 points 1 month ago

Nobody loves you Epic Games, fuck off.

[–] lemmyng@lemmy.world 15 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Tim Sweeney, the pedophile (protector) who insists that pedophiles aren't using Roblox to commit pedophilic crimes by preying on minors? That Tim Sweeney?

[–] db2@lemmy.world 16 points 1 month ago (2 children)

He also says that stopping ai generated csam is "gatekeeping".

Whenever I say this his apologists magically appear.

load more comments (2 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] winkledinkle@sh.itjust.works 14 points 1 month ago

If the game isn't made by people, I wish it a very merry get fucked and die.

[–] MirrorGiraffe@piefed.social 14 points 1 month ago

I'm making a game and I just ai for parts of the code and and for assets currently. I make it because I'm 43 and been programming my entire life and yet never took the time to make a game.

If I ever were to release it on any store, I'd replace the assets with human made and declare that I've had LLM assistance in coding, no matter if there's a role about it or not.

Basically I know it's important to some people and I don't want them to accidentally spend money on something they hate. It would be like sneaking meat into a vegetarian dish.

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 14 points 1 month ago (2 children)

So they can't not use AI because they'll lose out to studios that do (not sure about that one but whatever) but if they do use AI no one will buy the game.

Pick one

[–] Professorozone@lemmy.world 9 points 1 month ago

It's kind of the MAGA mentality.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] chameleon@fedia.io 14 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Another choice quote from the original IGN interview that this is from:

Sweeney: [...] The only way that we can hope for new games coming into the market to be able to succeed when there's so much Metcalfe's Law at play and so many captive audiences in the really big games – you know, Fortnite, Roblox, PUBG Mobile, and a few other really huge ones – it's got to be that those games get momentum by connecting to the economies in other games. I think that can really reinvigorate the market if people are constantly looking to new games and sources of new items that they can earn everywhere and be able to really easily move together with their friends.

Guy got talked into the whole blockchain NFT crap so hard that he's still trying to make it happen, as if it was ever a desirable thing that the best way to get some kind of gear or cool cosmetics in game A involves playing game B instead.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] flamingos@feddit.uk 13 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I wonder why the man who makes money off engine royalties might have a problem with something that can dramatically affect sales after stuffing that engine with the crap people hate.

[–] FirmDistribution@lemmy.world 12 points 1 month ago (3 children)

how about Tim Sweeney disclose of these nuts?

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] hperrin@lemmy.ca 12 points 1 month ago

Lol. The slopsmith is upset that you know about his slopsmithing.

[–] cley_faye@lemmy.world 11 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

"Oh no, informing people allows them to decide for themselves, we can't have that! I, sweeney whiney, must protect the world from informed decisions!"

  • Tim Sweeney, wearing is burger king cardboard crown screaming in front of his mirror alone.
[–] spaceracoon@lemmy.zip 11 points 1 month ago (1 children)

All of this together is why there is so much media attack on Steam. Just think of the amount of fuckery we would be subjected to, if Steam was out of the equation.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Kazel@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 1 month ago

It is irresponsible to post such shit from the sweeney son of a bitch

[–] FireWire400@lemmy.world 10 points 1 month ago

Man, Sweeney's been on a roll lately, hasn't he? Too bad I've got no idea what he's talking about most of the time

[–] Hxrmit@thelemmy.club 9 points 1 month ago

What really is irresponsible is using amalgamations of stolen work and presenting it as the future

[–] Toga77@lemmy.world 8 points 1 month ago

It's really irresponsible for Tim Sweeney to be a such a fucking moron but he hasn't stopped that yet.

[–] melsaskca@lemmy.ca 8 points 1 month ago (2 children)

If I am buying an "AI" game I'll pay a couple of bucks and no more as there are no labour costs involved. If I'm buying from a company that supports human beings, I'll pay about 50-100 bucks, depending on the game.

load more comments (2 replies)

Stfu sweeney

[–] hopesdead@startrek.website 7 points 1 month ago (3 children)

Remember when the Epic Games Store was so bad that anti-virus software was identifying it as a threat?

load more comments (3 replies)
load more comments
view more: next ›