Epic CEO Sweeney, who fired over 800 people this year, bemoans lack of programmers

Of all the things to say

Asked by The Verge why Fortnite was not available on Steam Deck yet, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney, who fired over 800 people this year, gave probably the most tone deaf response he could have given at that moment: “If we only had a few more programmers.” 

You probably had, Tim, but you kicked them out and apparently forgot about that immediately.

“It’s the Linux problem. I love the Steam Deck hardware. Valve has done an amazing job there; I wish they would get to tens of millions of users, at which point it would actually make sense to support it,” he continued.

Tim Sweeney at GDC 2016 / Trish Tunney Photography for GDC

Sweeney may not be wrong in saying that updating the popular game to support the Linux-based SteamOS is difficult and probably not worth it for the company at this time, especially in regards to anti-cheat measures. He may not be wrong in saying that this problem could be solved by throwing manpower at it – but phrasing it this way and using a lack of employees as an excuse after kicking out around 16% of his workforce in 2023 is so audacious and devoid of empathy it leaves one speechless.

Epic’s CEO is currently reveling in his victory over Google in the court of law, where a jury found that Google used its position as Android’s creator to turn Google Play Store and the Google Play Billing service into a monopoly on the operating system, engaging in anti-competitive behavior.

Epic Games has positioned itself as a champion of consumers and smaller developers alike in its legal crusade against Apple and Google, but this position couldn’t look more dishonest and double-faced than when contrasted with Sweeney’s lack of empathy for the people formerly in his employ. You know, those little guys his billion-dollar corporation pretends to champion.