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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.

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[-] Kirp123@lemmy.world 267 points 2 weeks ago

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

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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 96 points 2 weeks ago

The same people unironically: let the free market decide

[-] OwOarchist@pawb.social 36 points 2 weeks ago

let the free market decide

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

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[-] rockerface@lemmy.cafe 16 points 2 weeks ago

"No, not like that!"

[-] DonGirses@lemmy.world 9 points 2 weeks ago

free market is when I get money

[-] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago

I want to hug and kiss your comment.

[-] Telorand@reddthat.com 130 points 2 weeks 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 79 points 2 weeks ago

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

[-] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 20 points 2 weeks ago

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

[-] geekwithsoul@piefed.social 54 points 2 weeks ago

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 23 points 2 weeks ago

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

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[-] tabular@lemmy.world 52 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

"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 16 points 2 weeks ago

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

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[-] ChaosMonkey@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 2 weeks ago

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

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[-] Soup@lemmy.world 47 points 2 weeks 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.

[-] shittydwarf@piefed.ca 44 points 2 weeks ago
[-] binux@sh.itjust.works 39 points 2 weeks 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

[-] skozzii@lemmy.ca 34 points 2 weeks ago

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

[-] Kissaki@feddit.org 33 points 2 weeks 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.

[-] lemmyng@lemmy.world 30 points 2 weeks ago

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 23 points 2 weeks ago

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

Whenever I say this his apologists magically appear.

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[-] tabular@lemmy.world 27 points 2 weeks ago

"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).

"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.

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[-] ada 26 points 2 weeks 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.

[-] echodot@feddit.uk 25 points 2 weeks ago

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 13 points 2 weeks ago

It's kind of the MAGA mentality.

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[-] chameleon@fedia.io 23 points 2 weeks ago

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.

[-] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 10 points 2 weeks ago

If I'm understanding his comment, it doesn't make sense at all. He wants people to discover new games......by playing the same big 4 games that everybody already plays, and aren't unknown.

What?

I don't even know where to start, to the point that I'm assuming I'm missing something here. Thats how little sense it makes. I'm at a point where the only logical conclusion is that I'm misunderstanding his statement.

Because otherwise......where do you even go from there? If you heard this guy saying these things on the bus, you'd just assume he's mentally unwell.

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[-] winkledinkle@sh.itjust.works 23 points 2 weeks ago

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

[-] guynamedzero@piefed.zeromedia.vip 22 points 2 weeks ago

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

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[-] MirrorGiraffe@piefed.social 20 points 2 weeks 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.

[-] Teratologique 18 points 2 weeks ago

Indie games like Stardew Valley and Undertale don't need generative AI, skill issue much?

What next, it's "irresponsible" to mention the system requirements because people won't buy games that are too advanced for their device, which is depriving devs of sales?

Maybe being anti-consumer isn't the best strategy to bring those "consumer" things to your marketplace, Tim.

[-] FirmDistribution@lemmy.world 18 points 2 weeks ago

how about Tim Sweeney disclose of these nuts?

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[-] flamingos@feddit.uk 18 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks 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.

[-] hperrin@lemmy.ca 17 points 2 weeks ago

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

[-] cley_faye@lemmy.world 16 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks 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 16 points 2 weeks ago

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.

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[-] Kazel@lemmy.dbzer0.com 15 points 2 weeks ago

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

[-] Toga77@lemmy.world 15 points 2 weeks ago

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

[-] FireWire400@lemmy.world 14 points 2 weeks 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 10 points 2 weeks ago

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

[-] hopesdead@startrek.website 10 points 2 weeks ago

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

[-] Quetzalcutlass@lemmy.world 8 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Epic are currently trying to make a push into mobile after preparing the way with all those lawsuits, but their mobile app store shows they learned absolutely nothing from how poorly EGS was received.

How bad is it? So bad it doesn't even have a library. To know which games you own, you have to browse the list of all apps on the store and find the ones that have their price replaced by a download icon.

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[-] melsaskca@lemmy.ca 10 points 2 weeks ago

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.

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Stfu sweeney

[-] PierceTheBubble@lemmy.ml 7 points 2 weeks ago

Got to keep shoveling that minimum viable product slop, but heaven forbid a label which might serve as an indication for it.

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this post was submitted on 27 Jun 2026
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