• Light/Dark

Tim Sweeney follows up on Epic Game's stance on allowing players freedom of speech post Activision Blizzard controversy.

lowhighkang_LHK

lowhighkang_LHK

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,906
Las Vegas
I know we had a thread about this in regards to the article written at The Verge

But Tim Sweeney made some statements after the fact on his twitter.



Somebody then followed up with the concern that Tencent is a shareholder for Epic.





His response:



TLDR: Epic Game's put out a statement that they would not do what Activision Blizzard did if put in a similar situation. Folks on twitter challenged CEO Tim Sweeney on the fact that Tencent is a shareholder. Tim Sweeney says, he's the majority shareholder and CEO, and what he says, goes. In that Epic won't censor any kind of Pro-HK statements.

Obviously - push comes to shove we'll see how these statements hold up. But it is nice to have these statements directly from the CEO's mouth, that's now part of public record.
 
Last edited:
Mesoian

Mesoian

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Oct 28, 2017
27,057
Something tells me, in the next few days, he's gonna have to prove that.
 
Dr.Ifto

Dr.Ifto

Member
Oct 27, 2017
480
Tencent can pull out, but Tencent's largest sharefolder is a Dutch company in South Africa I believe. Epic doesnt need them.
 
TheJackdog

TheJackdog

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,644
i cant stand tim sweeney foir a variety of reasons, but its good to hear a CEO say this. we'll see what happens going forward when they are actually challenged i guess
 
SilkySm00th

SilkySm00th

Member
Oct 31, 2017
4,853
Hope my daughter see's some awesome "FREE HONG KONG" stuff in the playground area or whatever over the next few days. Or hell... release a Hong Kong Protestor skin and really get it done. I'd give her 10 bucks for that shit.
 
Loan Wolf

Loan Wolf

Member
Nov 9, 2017
5,110
We'll see if he'll maintain his stance if/when the Chinese investors withdraw. Might just pick up the Outer Worlds if he upholds
 
MrBob

MrBob

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,672
Fortnite doesn't have a large footprint in China I believe. Easier for epic than blizzard whose products are huge in China.

Still Blizzard shouldn't be putting money over freedom but he we are.
 

Deleted member 10726

user requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
2,674
ResetERA
Respect to Epic for doing so, I think some people might underestimate how much weight is put behind this with him confirming via direct reply to someone that they won't be banned for supporting Hong Kong.

Of course, as always, it remains to be seen how much this holds up, but like I said in the other thread, I want to believe in this because people should be able to express their support for Hong Kong.
 
Razgriz417

Razgriz417

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,130
Didnt realize sweeny had controlling interest still. Here's hoping he lives up to this promise
 
Magnus

Magnus

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,430
Bold words! His whole chain of replies is wild and excellent.

Do any of you believe Blizzard could truly rectify this (in the eyes of the global population, sans China) if Brack takes this kind of stance in a public statement? And, how likely is it that he and Blizzard would do this?

Ruined profits from China aside, it would be such a tremendous PR win for Blizzard (taking this stance and reversing Blizzard China's ban and statements).

 
OP
OP
lowhighkang_LHK

lowhighkang_LHK

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,906
Las Vegas
Relaxed Muscle said:
Epic:'Please, love us!'

J/K

This is good, I hope they can follow it.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Yeah, there are a lot of layers to this, a lot of motives that may or not be for the greater good - who's to say.

But I think it's better that Tim made this statement, in a simple and direct fashion that he has. It's better that he did this, than didn't. And now it's on record on what his stance is. So, you know - we'll see. Unlike many other controversies, this one won't be going anywhere anytime soon - in fact this whole thing between Western Companies, China and Hong Kong is only beginning.
 
ShinUltramanJ

ShinUltramanJ

Member
Oct 27, 2017
12,950
It's real easy to say these things, but I've always believed Epic would be acquired by China/Tencent. This is their Trojan Horse push into taking over the Western market, and I'm confident Tim Sweeney will sell out when the time comes.

Of course he's going to say otherwise with all of the outrage over Blizzard.
 
Turin Turambar

Turin Turambar

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,780
It will be interesting if this is 'tested', yes.

Then again, it's possible... Epic is a private company, like Valve. It isn't a public company like Activision Blizzard. Tim Sweeney is already filthy rich so maybe he doesn't care.
 
Razgriz417

Razgriz417

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,130
Magnus said:
Bold words! His whole chain of replies is wild and excellent.

Do any of you believe Blizzard could truly rectify this (in the eyes of the global population, sans China) if Brack takes this kind of stance in a public statement? And, how likely is it that he and Blizzard would do this?

Ruined profits from China aside, it would be such a tremendous PR win for Blizzard (taking this stance and reversing Blizzard China's ban and statements).

Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
doubtful. I don't think Acti/bliz has majority control (I could be wrong).

Dash Kappei said:
considering Tencent owns a 40% stake in Epic, not really
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
the interesting thing here is Sweeney having controlling interest, so that means if they don't care about tencent dumping their shares, he can do what he wants.
 
SneerfulOwl

SneerfulOwl

Member
Nov 4, 2017
1,896
Bold statement, considering they are 40% owned by Tencent.

But then again, this guy is known for not living up to his words.
 
riotous

riotous

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,423
Seattle
Dash Kappei said:
considering Tencent owns a 40% stake in Epic, not really
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Tencent has no control over Epic Games business.

From the other thread, the one that should be kept and this one locked lol:

Sweeney has outright stated in the past that despite having input on the board of directors, they don't actual have any legal or contractual control of the company.




I am super curious if Sweeney wants them to sell that 40% back to him or something.
 
Leviathan

Leviathan

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
2,065
Let's not hand out points for empty declarations of what someone would hypothetically do. My opinion won't change until Epic is put in a situation where it has to do it.
 
AlexFlame116

AlexFlame116

Prophet of Truth - One Winged Slayer
Member
Nov 17, 2017
23,203
Utah
I know that Tim has said some dumb things in the past and has broken promises, but honestly I'm just happy he took a hard stance. He may have to put it to the test real soon, but I have hope that he will stick true to his word.
 
zoltek

zoltek

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,917
Watch some donkey try to turn this in a negative against Epic....

oh crap... too late...

Come on guys. Really? At face value, his words are a good thing this time around.
 
TortadeJamon

TortadeJamon

Banned
Dec 23, 2018
908
Leviathan said:
Let's not hand out points for empty declarations of what someone would hypothetically do. My opinion won't change until Epic is put in a situation where it has to do it.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Will it be? Tencent has no say in how the company is run, and if it comes down to sacrificing his Chinese business interests to preserve his (far larger) Western business interests, I can easily see Sweeney doing that, especially since it'd have the very beneficial side effect of making Epic look pro-consumer in comparison to Comrade Kotick over at ActiBlizzard.
 

Deleted member 5596

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
7,747
lowhighkang_LHK said:
Yeah, there are a lot of layers to this, a lot of motives that may or not be for the greater good - who's to say.

But I think it's better that Tim made this statement, in a simple and direct fashion that he has. It's better that he did this, than didn't. And now it's on record on what his stance is. So, you know - we'll see. Unlike many other controversies, this one won't be going anywhere anytime soon - in fact this whole thing between Western Companies, China and Hong Kong is only beginning.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Probably Tencent is just happy with the dividends Epic gives, so they might not care. Seeing that Epic can't (?) sell games on China means that Tencent relationship must be not that deep or close
 
Kudo

Kudo

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,910
Damn, those are some fighting words, that's good.
Will be interesting to see how this all develops in near future.
 
Leviathan

Leviathan

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
2,065
TortadeJamon said:
Will it be? Tencent has no say in how the company is run, and if it comes down to sacrificing his Chinese business interests to preserve his (far larger) Western business interests, I can easily see Sweeney doing that, especially since it'd have the very beneficial side effect of making Epic look pro-consumer in comparison to Comrade Kotick over at ActiBlizzard.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Given that, I would avoid giving him points at all, considering the significant disparity in how much Epic stands to lose next to Blizzard.
 
¡ B 0 0 P !

¡ B 0 0 P !

Banned
Apr 4, 2019
2,915
Greater Toronto Area
Relaxed Muscle said:
Probably Tencent is just happy with the dividends Epic gives, so they might not care. Seeing that Epic can't (?) sell games on China means that Tencent relationship must be not that deep or close
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Tencent is the official publisher of Fortnite in China. They have a deep relationship. Will be interesting to see how Epic reacts if China bans Fortnite because of these statements.
 

Software Update

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,227
Leviathan said:
Let's not hand out points for empty declarations of what someone would hypothetically do. My opinion won't change until Epic is put in a situation where it has to do it.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Have people not taken the Liberate Hong Kong memes to Fortnite yet? You'd think someone could easily force Epics hand on a live stream or in-game. I'm with you, but it seems like we shouldn't have to be skeptical for very long at all.
 
Kalor

Kalor

Resettlement Advisor
Member
Oct 25, 2017
19,730
That's a nice statement to see. Obviously things might be different if they were faced with an actual situation but they're good words at least.
 
collige

collige

Member
Oct 31, 2017
12,772
That's a pretty courageous claim given the political climate. I hope he keeps his word.

Space Madness said:
Have people not taken the Liberate Hong Kong memes to Fortnite yet? You'd think someone could easily force Epics hand on a live stream or in-game. I'm with you, but it seems like we shouldn't have to be skeptical for very long at all.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Why would there need to be HK Fortnite memes? Epic hasn't done anything to piss off the HK freedom movement.
 
coldcrush

coldcrush

Member
Jun 11, 2018
797
Say what you want about Epic and Tim Sweeney but this was the just and right thing to do and say. Good on him
 

Deleted member 18944

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
6,944
Leviathan said:
Let's not hand out points for empty declarations of what someone would hypothetically do. My opinion won't change until Epic is put in a situation where it has to do it.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I will hand out points to Tim because when push comes to shove and he doesn't follow through my anger and disgust will be 10x what it would be if I didn't invest any faith in his ability to essentially say fuck China free Hong Kong.
 
Javier23

Javier23

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,904
The NBA needs the Chinese authorities and the state media to collaborate in order for them to conduct business in China. And the Chinese authorities have an existential need to win the battle of public opinion, internally. They could and felt like they had to go to war.

This is a private Chinese company (public ties or not) with a 40% participation on a succesful Western company. What are they gonna do, wreck shit up or sell their shares over a political tweet reiterating what half of the Western world is saying? Do they really care that much? Should it even look like they care, given all the accusations of conducting business at the behest of the Communist Party?

Someone correct me if anything I said is incorrect, but unlike what others are saying I just don't see how these words can hurt Epic much.

EDIT: Lmao, wrote this not even being aware of the Blizzard thing. Too sleepy. Will have to read on that, but everything I just said may have already been proven wrong by whatever happened there.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.