Epic Games
OVERALL |
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Owned |
USA |
Rating |
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Video games
Founded in the USA in 1991 by Tim Sweeney, who still owns more than half of the company. Chinese conglomerate Tencent bought a 40% stake in 2012. Best known for developing Fortnite and the commercially available game engine Unreal Engine. Acquired Rocket League developer Psyonix in 2019.
Company Ownership
Epic Games Inc | USA | website | ||||
Tencent Holdings Ltd ![]() owns 40% of Epic Games Inc |
CHN | website | ||||
Conglomerate Tencent is mindbogglingly huge, being one the world's largest companies in each and all of the following areas: video games, technology, social media, venture capital and investment. |
Company Assessment
PRAISE | CRITICISM | INFORMATION | ||
Epic Games Inc | ||||
In 2022 this company agreed to pay a total of US$520m in penalties and refunds to settle complaints involving children's privacy and methods that tricked players into making purchases. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said 'Fortnite's counterintuitive, inconsistent, and confusing button configuration led players to incur unwanted charges'. Epic Games agreed to pay a $275m fine for collecting personal information on Fortnite players under the age of 13 without informing their parents or getting their consent. It is the biggest penalty ever issued for breaking an FTC rule. The company is also refunding $245m to customers who fell victim to deceptive online techniques used to nudge users into doing things they did not intend to do.
Source: The Guardian (2022)
This company is 40% owned by Tencent, which has several criticisms and an overall Shop Ethical rating of 'F'.
Source: Shop Ethical (2020) |
According to legal filing in Canada, this company has been accused of hiring psychologists in an attempt to make Fortnite 'as addictive as possible'.
Source: news article (2019)
Fortnite's explosive growth led to months of intense crunch (i.e. overtime) for Epic employees and contractors, some of whom say they felt extreme pressure to work grueling hours to maintain Fortnite's success and profitability, resulting in a toxic, stressful environment at the company. In a dozen interviews conducted by Polygon over a period of several months, current and former employees say they regularly worked in excess of 70-hour weeks, with some reporting 100-hour weeks.
Source: Polygon (2019)
This company is a member of the Fair Play Alliance, a global coalition of gaming professionals and companies committed to developing quality games. They provide a forum for gaming professionals and companies to work together to develop and share best practices in encouraging healthy communities and awesome player interactions in online gaming. They envision a world where games are free of harassment, discrimination, and abuse, and where players can express themselves through play.
Source: Fair Play Alliance (2020) |
Company Details
Type | Private company |
Employees | 1,000+ (2019) |
Contact Details
Address | Cary, North Carolina, USA |
Website | www.epicgames.com |
Products / Brands
Epic Games
Fortnite Multiplayer Games Rocket League Sports Games |