Epic Games' Tim Sweeney talks Linux and gaming some more, says Linux is "great"

Again some people here are bashing against someone they DON'T KNOW.
Is Tim Sweeney someones uncle etc. here??? I don't think so.

Even his tweets might not be from himself.

People always tend (ME included) to interpret things into something that wasn't said.
I mean... when someone says his favourite color is PINK, it does not immediately mean he/she is gay.
It "might" be so, but you "really" don't know.

Yes, Tim Sweeney made "exclusive" deals with developers/publishers and what now? Did he force them to do it? NO. So, is he evil? No.

Saying bullshit about someone you don't know because it does't make you comfortable is a waste of time and leads only to another game client which will never be released for Linux - thank you.

Instead we should at least try to convince people to support us and not whinge around.

Man... he's a public person releasing public statements and running a company making very public disruptive actions that have very real impact on our hobby. Ofc we interpret and give a judgement on what he's saying. Especially against what he's actually doing.

He can complain as much as he wants about the suspicious, inquisitive, sometimes paranoid nature of the average linux user out there (it's part of that serie of tweets, but Liam left it out to not prompt an obvious flamefest I guess). We have a brain and we use it. Being part of a community that looks beyond press statements and vague tweet promises is a strength. Being resistant to manipulation and PR brainwashing is not a weakness.

Facts are that today he's making PC gaming worse. Now. It's visible and we feel it. He claims that it's a worth sacrifice for a better future. Fine. Which better future? For who? When? How? Apart from the jingle that "competition is always good" and "steam makes often more money than devs" (both very true statements yet small and incomplete fragments of today's gaming big picture) he has never provided a real, practical, concrete or even credible scenario of how this will benefit users. And actual developers. Some guarantees? Some facts? Today we only see how his cartel is benefiting big publishers and occasionally some known indie with a successful kickstarter campaign at their back (congrats to them, I understand. Good luck with the next kickstarter campaign though). The vast majority of unknown indie devs are barred out EGS "selected catalog" eden. While devs already with a publisher contract have already negotiated their compensation and have 0 power on those additional revenues EGS offers. And remember that big publishers have never been so profitable as they are today for their shareholders. Yet games are designed over micro transactions, gambling and it looks that in near future even non skip-able commercials rather than user experience. While actual devs are always expected to crunch. And sometimes get paid for it, sometimes not and sometimes they become redundant after release. It doesn't exactly make me positive that more moeny to publishers translates to happier devs and better games and better gaming services. So can he explain exactly how in practice his actions will compensate in the future all the damage they are doing now? Nobody see the future I know. But he as a CEO has a vision. He should be able to transmit it to us. I mean the non obvious part. The obvious one (more revenues for big pubs shareholders) it's pretty darn obvious.

Glad people here in the comments are more on-the-ball today than I! I did have an initial reaction of "Oh, that's logically reasonable, I guess?", but of course anyone can make a convincing BS argument out of actual facts with the right spin or avoidances. Basically, the only way his argument works is if his store did just have better terms, like the higher profits share. Unfortunately, he's also buying up exclusives, many of which were set to hit Steam in a short time, which is pretty obnoxious cash flashery and doesn't really cause healthy competition; unless you enjoy the 'console war' variety.

Also, it's not relevant that the developers 'chose' to go exclusive. I'm not mad they took the deal, I'm sure the pressure's high and money can be pretty tight for a lot of devs, especially the crowd-funded lot. The argument reminds me of that "Well, it isn't illegal" line that gets thrown around when people talk about dev crunch. That's not what's being argued, and we shouldn't have to wait until someone's at literal gunpoint before we address foul business practices.


Last edited by HadBabits on 15 Jul 2019 at 10:12 pm UTC

Talk is cheap. Sweeney's given me less than no reason to believe what he has to say. I'll believe it when I see it, but I'm not holding my breath.

Well, it seems the previously incorrect reports about Easy Anti-Cheat dropping Linux support like to reappear and people end up spreading it around. Even though it has since been clarified, people still end up spreading it.

https://twitter.com/TimSweeneyEpic/status/1150521599633874949

Which is also a very important matter.

You know, I didn't even read the article.

Yeah, you are right.

You do realize that the main reason people don't like exclusives is about their impact on consumers, not developers, right? So developers not being coerced has nothing to do with whether Sweeney is evil. Completely off topic.

Off topic??? This Sweeney-Bashing started from the day Valve announced that Metro: Exodus goes "exclusive" to EGS - my argument. From this day on lots of gamers where angry. This is understandable but honestly does not give anybody the right to give him names. He is still a business man.
And now people are bashing against Sweeney in this article/post.
This article is in no way negative - it tells only "POSITIVE" things about Sweeney.
Look... he said (wrote) that Linux is great!
Next question should be...
Cool, Mr. Sweeny. So Linux client is CONFIRMED;). When will the launch happen? Because of the lack of functions in EGS this should be doable THIS year, right?.
... instead of bashing.
Who is now off topic??????

Man... he's a public person releasing public statements

No - I don't share your opinion. He is a "private" person doing "public" statements.

Having "a bad fur day" is one thing, bashing people "publicly" another.
I understand your anger - but it does not help Linux to grow market share.

This Sweeney-Bashing started from the day Valve announced that Metro: Exodus goes "exclusive" to EGS - my argument. From this day on lots of gamers where angry. This is understandable but honestly does not give anybody the right to give him names. He is still a business man.

Being a human gives anyone the right to voice their opinion on someone else, even if it's insulting.

I think Tim Sweeney is a bad person. I have no reason to believe his statements are honest given his track record of dishonesty. Regardless of the neutrality of this article, I, and many others, have a negative personal opinion on this man. The comments section, not the article, is the place to express opinion. The article section is for (relatively) neutral reporting.

Being a human gives anyone the right to voice their opinion on someone else

Agreed.

even if it's insulting.

Disagreed.

You will never get a "higher" respect when you treat people this way.
Driving up the wall should not become daily routine.


Last edited by johndoe on 16 Jul 2019 at 7:16 pm UTC

You know, I didn't even read the article.

Yeah, you are right.

You do realize that the main reason people don't like exclusives is about their impact on consumers, not developers, right? So developers not being coerced has nothing to do with whether Sweeney is evil. Completely off topic.

Off topic??? This Sweeney-Bashing started from the day Valve announced that Metro: Exodus goes "exclusive" to EGS - my argument. From this day on lots of gamers where angry. This is understandable but honestly does not give anybody the right to give him names. He is still a business man.
And now people are bashing against Sweeney in this article/post.
This article is in no way negative - it tells only "POSITIVE" things about Sweeney.
Look... he said (wrote) that Linux is great!
Next question should be...
Cool, Mr. Sweeny. So Linux client is CONFIRMED;). When will the launch happen? Because of the lack of functions in EGS this should be doable THIS year, right?.
... instead of bashing.
Who is now off topic??????

Who is off topic? Still you. You said developers weren't being harmed, therefore Sweeney wasn't evil. But nobody's allegations about Sweeney being evil have had to do with developers being harmed (by exclusives). They have been on a different topic--the question of consumers being harmed (by exclusives). Therefore, your point, being on a different topic from the one people were up in arms about, failed to refute their collective positions because it was off topic.

Note that this does not constitute me saying Sweeney is, or isn't, evil. The point is that if some people say apples are green and you say no, oranges are orange, this--despite being true--fails to refute the people alleging apples are green, because it is off topic. To do that, you would have to argue that apples are red.

I would add that you are saying to me that I should repent of my position that I think Sweeney's words generally don't have any meaning and aren't worth paying attention to--because his most recent words sound pleasant. This also seems to me to miss the point I was making, rather than refuting it. I'm willing to stipulate that his most recent words sound pleasant; I trust you entirely on this. I just don't think it matters much.


Last edited by Purple Library Guy on 16 Jul 2019 at 8:41 pm UTC

Being a human gives anyone the right to voice their opinion on someone else

Agreed.

even if it's insulting.

Disagreed.

You will never get a "higher" respect when you treat people this way.
Driving up the wall should not become daily routine.

And who is treating whom how in this discussion? You seem an imperfect instance of what you preach.

He comes off as opportunistic, I don't trust him. If he believes Linux is truly great, then he can push for adoption of software that would help the platform. I wish I could say he's a good guy, but since EGS exclusivity began I see mostly garbage actions by him. Remember, he compared using Linux to moving to Canada if you weren't happy with US. That's not exactly a statement one would make if one truly believed Linux is great. Unless of course he means Linux is great because it's cheap and inexpensive for servers and similar, and not actual desktop Linux.

And who is treating whom how in this discussion? You seem an imperfect instance of what you preach.

I'm preaching nothing.
My last two sentences...

You will never get a "higher" respect when you treat people this way.
Driving up the wall should not become daily routine.

...were not directed towards Munk - sorry for the confusion.

It was meant in common and to be honest... it describes ME some years back.


Last edited by johndoe on 16 Jul 2019 at 10:21 pm UTC

And who is treating whom how in this discussion? You seem an imperfect instance of what you preach.

I'm preaching nothing.

You are telling everyone how to act--in a nutshell, that none of us should criticize public figures in general or Tim Sweeney in particular. And in a rather pushy way, tending to approach the hot-under-the-collar, although you're not getting personal. This seems preachy. I don't know about anyone else here, but personally, it gets my back up some.

You are telling everyone how to act--in a nutshell, that none of us should criticize public figures in general or Tim Sweeney in particular. And in a rather pushy way, tending to approach the hot-under-the-collar, although you're not getting personal. This seems preachy. I don't know about anyone else here, but personally, it gets my back up some.

Maybe this is because I'm older than the most people here and think differently.
I for my part want EGS for Linux - you not?

You are telling everyone how to act--in a nutshell, that none of us should criticize public figures in general or Tim Sweeney in particular. And in a rather pushy way, tending to approach the hot-under-the-collar, although you're not getting personal. This seems preachy. I don't know about anyone else here, but personally, it gets my back up some.

Maybe this is because I'm older than the most people here and think differently.
I for my part want EGS for Linux - you not?

I'm in my fifties; I had taken you for quite young.
I for my part want EGS to fail, and stand as an example of what not to do for other would-be Steam competitors, in hopes that such future competitors decide to do things differently (and in the mean while a platform, Steam, which backs Linux and has certain other advantages continues to dominate). If it unfortunately succeeds, I suppose I would prefer it support Linux than not. But again, the connection you draw between this and how we talk about Tim Sweeney is mistaken.


Last edited by Purple Library Guy on 16 Jul 2019 at 11:39 pm UTC

I'm in my fifties; I had taken you for quite young.
I for my part want EGS to fail, and stand as an example of what not to do for other would-be Steam competitors, in hopes that such future competitors decide to do things differently (and in the mean while a platform, Steam, which backs Linux and has certain other advantages continues to dominate). If it unfortunately succeeds, I suppose I would prefer it support Linux than not. But again, the connection you draw between this and how we talk about Tim Sweeney is mistaken.

Hats off! I'm 44 years old, married and have 2 sons dancing every day on my nose.
There is no better linux supporter than Valve, Feral, ...right.
Let me explain what I think...
Valve released Steam september 2003. It took them 10 years to release Steam for linux in 2013.
When I'm not wrong, Half Life had a linux server from the start. What took so long?
Sure, the way Sweeney chose with EGS and exclusives is not very nice. But don't let forget that they are time based.
I have waited 10 years for Steam - so I can wait one year for Metro:Exodus as an example.
He said they are working on EAC. Doesn't this sound good?. And while they are at it why should they ignore the fact, that Linux is moving into the foreground... Vulkan, more and more Mesa developers, Proton/Wine, DXVK, Valve as linux employer and developer, D9VK, Intel developing der own GPUs with linux in mind, Stadia...
EGS is only 1/2 years old and far from being complete.
I HOPE that Epic will release a linux client as soon as possible - finishing EAC is a good start.
When this happens, then we CONSUMERS have another place where we can choose to buy our games or not.
I also think that UE4 is a good engine (Everspace, _Observer, ...) and we might lose it if we treat the people behind it worse.
The best we can do is to convince more people/companies to support linux, be patient and polite.

You are telling everyone how to act--in a nutshell, that none of us should criticize public figures in general or Tim Sweeney in particular. And in a rather pushy way, tending to approach the hot-under-the-collar, although you're not getting personal. This seems preachy. I don't know about anyone else here, but personally, it gets my back up some.

Maybe this is because I'm older than the most people here and think differently.
I for my part want EGS for Linux - you not?

Heh... the small scope yes/no question trap. To make people lose sight of the big picture.

What I (and most of us here I think) want in general as users/consumers is not being manipulated or straight out coerced. We are especially in love with freedom.

In that regard yes: having EGS on linux is part of what I want. It gives me more choice.

Though I hope I don't have to explain with another textwall how the additional choice power derived from having EGS on linux would be overwhelmingly overshadowed by the despicable anti consumer practices Epic is actuating with it. In the big picture it would still result in a net loss of freedom.

So in the unlikely event that this happens, I'll definitely boycott it.


Last edited by Mal on 17 Jul 2019 at 4:59 pm UTC

The best we can do is to convince more people/companies to support linux, be patient and polite.

I could talk about the specifics of why you have one view of Sweeney and EGS and I have a different view, but that doesn't really get to the core issue here, of universal civility to public figures.
It is unwise to be universally patient and polite. It is not generally an effective strategy; game theory makes this pretty clear. It is better to differentiate between how you treat those you have reason to be positive about and those you have reason to distrust--in "prisoner's dilemma" terms, those you should expect to co-operate and those you should expect to default.
Further, if you are in a community with common interests, it is wise to warn the rest of the community about those one has reason to distrust, lest they be suckered. Whether as individuals or a community, it is better to co-operate with those who will co-operate back, better to refuse co-operation with those who will not co-operate back but treat it as a one way street. But if you're dealing with a community, before the community overall can refuse co-operation, the word has to be spread. That requires speaking ill of the person to be warned against.

So from my perspective, Sweeney is an untrustworthy person who is likely to try to sucker us. And you are a sucker, which is OK that's your right. But what is a problem is that you are telling people they should NOT warn the community about him because warning communities is bad. You are, in the name of civility, trying to enforce bad tactics on everyone because you are under the impression they are good tactics.

You are wrong. In my considered opinion, your universal civility is a bad tactic. Certainly you will disagree--but at least consider that there is room for disagreement on this subject, that your perspective on it is not the only plausible one, and so it may not be justifiable to hector people for using a different approach as if they were naive fools. From other perspectives it is you who are the naive one.

You are wrong. In my considered opinion, your universal civility is a bad tactic. Certainly you will disagree--but at least consider that there is room for disagreement on this subject, that your perspective on it is not the only plausible one, and so it may not be justifiable to hector people for using a different approach as if they were naive fools. From other perspectives it is you who are the naive one.

Notice taken.
Same as you I gave my 5 cents to this article/post, nothing more. I have the feeling that you sometimes read too much between the lines, but fine, I can cope with that.

#1, If available on GNU/Linux, then buy.
#2, if available on Android/Linux, then buy.
#3, if unavailable on my favorite platforms, then torrent it & boot up my old XP.