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The CEO of the company that makes Fortnite and Gears of War says, “After years of pretending to be Democrats, Big Tech leaders are now pretending to be Republicans in hopes of currying favor with the new administration.”
MANILA, Philippines – Epic Games CEO and co-founder Tim Sweeney has criticized executives from major technology companies who are trying to appease or curry favor with US President-elect Donald Trump.
In a post on X on Saturday, Jan. 11, Sweeney wrote, “After years of pretending to be Democrats, Big Tech leaders are now pretending to be Republicans in hopes of currying favor with the new administration. Beware of the monopolists’ nefarious campaign to shame the competition laws as they rip off consumers and crush competitors.’
Sweeney’s X announcement follows his long-running battles with Google and Apple over the distribution of Epic Games apps on their smartphones, where Epic has sought to be able to sell and offer its games on Google and Apple phones without having to go through their respective storefronts. and the two tech giants’ payment processing systems.
Epic Games is known for the very popular Fortnite series, and before that the Unreal and Gears of War series.
His remarks come as numerous tech companies, including Google, Apple, Amazon, NVIDIA and Meta Platforms, are donating to Trump’s inauguration or otherwise shifting their allegiances in the current US political climate in their favor.
Sweeney’s comments also came after Trump himself indicated that the winds of support were shifting in his favor. Back in December, Trump noted: “Everybody fought me in the first term. In this term, everyone wants to be my friend.”
Techspot’s report notes that such moves could translate into softer approaches for big tech companies seeking a more favorable reception for their lawsuits or other deals.
Recently, Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg ended its U.S. fact-checking program in favor of a crowdsourced type of fact-checking similar to what’s on X, a platform owned by Trump ally Elon Musk. – Rappler.com
