Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney decries 'corporate propaganda campaigns'

"We don't need to put out graphical pamphlets decrying the ills of shopping carts. It's absurd."

What you need to know

Tim Sweeney has lashed out at Apple's recent campaign against sideloading on iOS.
On Twitter, the Epic Games CEO stated he hoped "corporate propaganda campaigns don't become a permanent fixture of the tech industry".
Last year Epic staged Project Liberty, a large PR operation for the launch of its lawsuit against Apple.

CEO of Epic Games Tim Sweeney has said he hopes "corporate propaganda campaigns don't become a permanent fixture of the tech industry", following Apple's recent public push against antitrust legislation and sideloading on iOS.

Taking to Twitter Sweeney stated:

I really hope corporate propaganda campaigns don't become a permanent fixture of the tech industry. If a company has a problem, just fix it and bear the costs, and if that takes time to do right then say so.

Sweeney went on to criticize a recent Apple paper regarding the risk posed by sideloading on iOS:

So, like, the Epic Games Store doesn't have a shopping cart. It ought to have a shopping cart. Someday it will have a shopping cart. But in the meantime, we don't need to put out graphical pamphlets decrying the ills of shopping carts. It's absurd.

I really hope corporate propaganda campaigns don’t become a permanent fixture of the tech industry. If a company has a problem, just fix it and bear the costs, and if that takes time to do right then say so.
— Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) June 24, 2021

Sweeney also mocked the graphics and content of the paper, suggesting developers and users should be wary of Apple's 30% rate of commission, not hackers and scammers.

Last year, Epic Games and Tim Sweeney launched 'Project Liberty', a huge PR campaign that served as a launchpad for its lawsuit against Apple. It started with a hotfix to change the way payments were handled on Fortnite and ended with the filing of the suit, and a spoof 'Nineteen Eighty Fortnite' video, mocking Apple's own 1984 advert of old. The company also sold #FreeFortnite merchandise and even hosted a #FreeFortnite Cup for iOS players where entrants could win a 'Tart Tycoon' skin.

Court documents in the Epic Games vs Apple trial reveal the company agonized internally about not looking like the bad guys, Sweeney told the court he had hoped the move would make Apple (and Google) seriously reconsider its policy "then and there", and that it wanted to show the world "through action" the impact of the company's App Store policy.