Tim Sweeney, the man who dares to face Apple
Audio 03:35
Tom Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, on May 3, 2021 at the opening of Epic Games' lawsuit against Apple, in court in Oakland, United States.
© AP - Noah Berger
By: Ariane Gaffuri Follow
8 mins
Tim Sweeney, the boss of Epic Games, known for his famous Fortnite video game, has taken legal action against Apple for abuse of dominance.
The trial began on Monday, May 3 in Oakland, California.
Publicity
The Fortnite video game is at the center of the dispute between
Epic Games and Apple
, accused of taking too high commissions on transactions of games on the App Store.
An operation that Tim Sweeney wanted to circumvent, which earned him to be excluded from Apple.
In a video interview given to the American newspaper the
New York Times,
he explains: “We came to the conclusion that Apple's offer was not only a bad deal, but that in addition it monopolized the distribution of games on the App Store and therefore the cost to users.
It destroys the fundamental principle of a balanced economy: competition.
Apple must change its policy.
»He assures.
Disassemble a lawn mower
At 51, this fine business strategist has a fortune estimated between 7 and 9.5 billion dollars. Yet it started from nothing. Yohan Bensemhoun, journalist for Jeuxvideos.com, says: “
He grew up in the 1970s. His father was in military communication. He was in a family of three boys and he was interested in DIY and electronics. For example, there is this anecdote that he took apart a very young lawn mower to find out how it worked. And he very quickly became passionate about computers and video games, because he saw more or less the same pattern: the fact that a video game is neither more nor less than an assembly of mechanisms that you can dismantle and reassemble at will. He spent more than 10,000 hours between 11 and 15 years working his programming to make games, to create programs. Then he started selling it and that's where the fun video adventure really started
. "
Tim Sweeney then studied engineering at the University of Maryland. But it is computers that fascinate him. He created Epic Games in 1991, marketed his first ZZT game, then the Unreal Engine graphics engine also used in the automotive industry. In 2017, he updated his game Fortnite, created in 2011 which exploded the counters with 350 million
gamers
. According to Yohan Bensemhoun, “
Fortnite has an exceptional strength, it is that it is a free game, but it works on small payments that you will be able to make through your gaming sessions. This means that you are going to buy a new coating for your weapons, a new outfit, a new dance to greet your friends or to humiliate your enemies once you have taken them down
. "
Changing the rules of the digital economy
Tim Sweeney continues his momentum and founded Epic Games Stores, his own online content distribution platform, and consolidates his reputation in the United States.
Dean Takahashi is a video game specialist in San Francisco.
He explains : "
People respect him because he says what he thinks. He is also seen as a true expert in technology that made his games accessible in a whole new way. It allowed gamers to play together on different platforms. A player on a Sony console can play Fortnite with one of his friends who is on Nintendo. They can be joined by one another on Xbox, whether from a PC or a mobile device. He also has a vision. He wants the concept of "Metaverse" to come true. It's a kind of virtual world where you can play, work, live, interact in the form of an avatar, just as you connect to the Internet. It's been science fiction for a long time, but I was surprised to hear him talk about it as if it were a possible reality in the near future.
», Testifies Dean Takahashi.
Tim Sweeney, a hero for developers, is not going to get rich with this lawsuit against Apple, concludes Dean Takahashi.
He is not asking for damages.
He just wants to change the rules of the digital economy.
►
Also to listen
: the lawsuit of Epic Games against Apple, "It is above all a question of big money"
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