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. Disney, Sony and Lego all own minority stakes.
Epic Games Inc
USA
Tencent Holdings Ltd
owns 40% of Epic Games Inc
CHN
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
(Last updated Jan 2022)
Praise
Criticism
Information
Epic Games Inc
Praise
Criticism
Information
Fined $520m for deceptive practices
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)
Part owned by Tencent, which has criticisms
This company is 40% owned by Tencent, which has several criticisms and an overall Shop Ethical rating of 'F'.
Source: Shop Ethical
(2020)
Severe overtime making Fortnite
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)
Accused of making Fornite addictive
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)
Fair Play Alliance member
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
Products / Brands
Epic Games
Fortnite
Multiplayer Games
Rocket League
Sports Games