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Tim Sweeney (Epic Games CEO) has a Twitter meltdown
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a_jeering_serpent sopuli.xyz a_jeering_serpent@sopuli.xyz
Joined: 2025-08-23
#102 · Quote Reply

That's totally an indignant crash out... Fucking asshole in chief sitting there forcing AI down the throats of devs like grain down a goose chasing those phat phuckin slop-grois profits. I'm far from anti-AI, but this fit in or fuck off monoculture shit is toxic and unacceptable. Kenney is based.

Gras-bâclé

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ianhclark510 lemmy.blahaj.zone ianhclark510@lemmy.blahaj.zone
Joined: 2023-06-09
#103 · Quote Reply

A few months ago they released a new version control system called "Lore" that intends to compete with Perforce https://lore.org/

Well damn, a pleased surprise, thank you kind Internet stranger!

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Duamerthrax lemmy.world Duamerthrax@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-08-27
#104 · Quote Reply

This dude needs to retire already - he isn't adding anything useful to the industry.

He's adding the most important things of all. Shareholder value and a backdoor for his tencent masters.

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petrol_sniff_king lemmy.blahaj.zone petrol_sniff_king@lemmy.blahaj.zone
Joined: 2023-07-01
#105 · Quote Reply

I don’t know the relationship between the two. It was obviously a harsh response. But it was defending himself as a CEO that apparently is not just a heartless and skillless CEO. If that’s untrue, that’s mostly a separate issue. But their main point, as I understand, is that the generalising critique of CEOs was missing the point that CEOs who apparently know what they’re talking about can also...

But their main point, as I understand, is that the generalising critique of CEOs was missing the point that CEOs who apparently know what they’re talking about can also be pro-AI.

Um, I guess? But do keep in mind, if there were a league of companies all dumping arsenic into a river, it would seem a little odd to me to insist that "some of them aren't crazy."

Like, I think that dumping arsenic into the water supply—at all—is sort of mentally disqualifying. Only anti-social, selfish, narcissistic psychopaths are capable of doing that. There's no room for such a person to destroy public resources like that and be considered polite, if misguided company.

I worry more so that the anti-AI side is struggling to express our side of things clearly and convincingly.

Maybe. It's a question that's always worth asking. That said, though, is convincing them with reason really what we're trying to do? Have you tried reasoning with a 9/11 truther, for instance?

Reason is a very powerful tool, but it only works if the people you're talking to are interested in the truth.

Racists are not defeated because they are convinced that their welfare-queen idea doesn't make any sense, or that it doesn't bore out in the data. They are defeated when their sentiments are socially stamped out, when airing out one's racism gets you publically flogged and discarded.

I just—in general, I don't see the point in nit-picking people's arguments against AI or CEOs when public disgust for it is what's measurably important.

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Mwa thelemmy.club Mwa@thelemmy.club
Joined: 2024-06-27
#106 · Quote Reply

Yeah and even then, no one trusted Oracle with it. There's a reason you don't hear OpenOffice.org anymore, all the devs left to make LibreOffice once Oracle got their grubby hands on it.

well ig Oracle gave OpenOffice to Apache

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ianhclark510 lemmy.blahaj.zone ianhclark510@lemmy.blahaj.zone
Joined: 2023-06-09
#107 · Quote Reply

Maybe he meant taking from open-source instrad for paing for a service

Credit where credit is due, they did develop an open source VCS which is something

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Leon pawb.social Dojan@pawb.social
Joined: 2025-03-20
#108 · Quote Reply

well ig Oracle gave OpenOffice to Apache

Huh! Never knew that. Apache is definitely better than Oracle, but since it was originally held by Sun and then acquired by Oracle, I'm not surprised all the devs fled.

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trem lemmy.blahaj.zone trem@lemmy.blahaj.zone
Joined: 2026-04-20
#109 · Quote Reply

Wasn't software originally opensource too? As in you would expect it possible to just email the company/person and ask for the commented code?

No idea, if companies would hand out the code, but lots of code was written by academics back then, who would generally freely share their code.

Apparently, there was also lots of what we'd call "piracy" today, at least if a certain Mr. Bill Gates is to be believed: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Open_Letter_to_Hobbyists

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Malica lemmy.zip Malica@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2026-08-27
#110 · Quote Reply

Where's the meltdown?

The "up yours" perhaps? Doesn't seem worthy of a meltdown to me though.

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Sanctus anarchist.nexus Sanctus@anarchist.nexus
Joined: 2025-09-08
#111 · Quote Reply

Hey, you dont talk shit to Kenney! Kenney is a saint in the GameDev world and many of my learning projects would have no good assets if it weren't for him and others like him. Fuck off, Sweeney.

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anewfox lemmy.zip anewfox@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2026-08-07
#112 · (edited) Quote Reply

c to c++ isn't really moving forward, it's lateral, and i don't mean that as a slight against c++ (for once, lol). same with 2d to 3d. turns out tim sweeny just says shit thinking we're stupid, imagine that.

if he really knew anything, he would have said "c to rust," which would have also been nonsense but it would have gotten a funnier reaction at least.

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aport programming.dev aport@programming.dev
Joined: 2023-06-09
#113 · Quote Reply

Tim cries himself to sleep every night because he knows deep down he's just a cheap knockoff John Carmack.

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lordziv lemmy.nz lordziv@lemmy.nz
Joined: 2026-03-10
#114 · Quote Reply

What does he even mean 2d to 3d

2D games to 3D? E.g. Castlevania to Crash Bandicoot etc

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Mwa thelemmy.club Mwa@thelemmy.club
Joined: 2024-06-27
#115 · Quote Reply

Huh! Never knew that. Apache is definitely better than Oracle, but since it was originally held by Sun and then acquired by Oracle, I'm not surprised all the devs fled.

Apache is definitely better than Oracle

true

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maegul (he/they) lemmy.ml maegul@lemmy.ml
Joined: 2023-01-19
#116 · Quote Reply

But their main point, as I understand, is that the generalising critique of CEOs was missing the point that CEOs who apparently know what they’re talking about can also be pro-AI. Um, I guess? But do keep in mind, if there were a league of companies all dumping arsenic into a river, it would seem a little odd to me to insist that "some of them aren't crazy." Like, I think that dumping arsenic i...

I feel like we’re more or less saying the same thing here. I think the initial argument was a fairly logical and dry one about what skills CEOs do and don’t have, not, as I think we both claim is more important, that they work for companies in capitalism, with all that that entails, such that the marketable qualities of the CEO as a person are a distraction.

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SkunkWorkz lemmy.world SkunkWorkz@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-08-26
#117 · Quote Reply

Hardly a meltdown, it's a single whiney slightly condescending response.

It’s even more whiney when you imagine it him actually saying it out loud with his real meek voice and him unable to make eye contact with kenney

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Thyazide lemmy.world Thyazide@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-08-03
#118 · Quote Reply

what does "Weabo" mean?

https://www.dictionary.com/culture/slang/weeaboo

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petrol_sniff_king lemmy.blahaj.zone petrol_sniff_king@lemmy.blahaj.zone
Joined: 2023-07-01
#119 · Quote Reply

I feel like we’re more or less saying the same thing here. I think the initial argument was a fairly logical and dry one about what skills CEOs do and don’t have, not, as I think we both claim is more important, that they work for companies in capitalism, with all that that entails, such that the marketable qualities of the CEO as a person are a distraction.

No, what I'm saying is that being this into AI is mentally disqualifying. We can conclude the CEO is mental because his interests are mental.

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dustyData lemmy.world dustyData@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-11
#120 · Quote Reply

I think in context, the C++ things makes sense: most games today are written in it. But I thought exactly the same about the 3D thing. Does he know that 2D games still exist?

And C is also still used because a lot of low level infra still only supports that. Like, the drivers for his precious GPUs that run coding LLM still use some level of C code. So does some compilers. Those use cases are not replaced by C++. Because C++ is not a C replacement. Dumb ass argument.

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Mwa thelemmy.club Mwa@thelemmy.club
Joined: 2024-06-27
#121 · Quote Reply

https://www.dictionary.com/culture/slang/weeaboo

so its a typo for weeaboo?

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dustyData lemmy.world dustyData@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-11
#122 · Quote Reply

He proceeded to list changes which gave good, astonishing results, where no art was stolen and no backlash happened. Then he compared those changes to AI vibe coding? What results can he bring to the table for comparison? It's been years now, so let's do a game and compare what years of 3d instead or 2d gave us, or the same with C++ instead of C.

It is a fallacious argument. Both 2D games and C are still used and have actually continued to evolve and progress in new creative directions. As for the third argument, it is pure hypocrisy. Tim doesnt contribute shit to the FOSS movement and actually has spoken against its core values from time to time.

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Duamerthrax lemmy.world Duamerthrax@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-08-27
#123 · Quote Reply

What does he even mean 2d to 3d

Jill of the Jungle might have been the last time Tim actually coded.

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maegul (he/they) lemmy.ml maegul@lemmy.ml
Joined: 2023-01-19
#124 · Quote Reply

No, what I'm saying is that being this into AI is mentally disqualifying. We can conclude the CEO is mental because his interests are mental.

Sure. Either way, that’s not the argument that was made in the tweet. It was much more specific and easily countered, which is my broader point.

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kestrel7_7 lemmy.world kestrel7_7@lemmy.world
Joined: 2026-07-31
#125 · Quote Reply

Imagine responding to one of the most wholesome people in the entire video game industry with “this is bullshit”

Real “Hans, do you think we’re the baddies?” moment

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dustyData lemmy.world dustyData@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-11
#126 · (edited) Quote Reply

In fairness to Tim, he does know code. He was behind the Unreal engine that powers half the games out there... AI can't make art in the slightest, but a lot of coding tasks are 90% donkey work, changing things in a dozen places and not forgetting one, adding a field and making sure it gets populated/copied in all the places, refactoring, etc. Good structure takes away some code duplication, but...

He's gone on record himself to say that he walked away from coding over a decade ago. He only returned to coding when AI models surged, but he doesn't touch the company major projects. There's probably nothing left on the unreal engine of his authorship.

Who cares anyway. They will eat all of their fortnite money on tokens before next year is over.

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forkDestroyer infosec.pub forkDestroyer@infosec.pub
Joined: 2025-01-25
#127 · Quote Reply

I like how he suggests C++ is inherently superior to C, or that 3D is inherently superior to 2D, in the same way open source is superior to closed source. Despite >=90% of his companies' codebases being strictly proprietary, and guarded so heavily you'll drown in fines if you leak as much as 3 lines.

Isn't C++ built on top of C and able to do everything C can and then some? It's been a while since I've coded in it but I remember that being a kind of neat feature in C++. (I'm not searching it to confirm - just chatting about it)

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schroedingersKoala piefed.ca schroedingersKoala@piefed.ca
Joined: 2026-02-05
#128 · Quote Reply

Good grief is Sweeney an insufferable cunt.

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qarbone lemmy.world qarbone@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-08-02
#129 · (edited) Quote Reply

c to c++ isn't really moving forward, it's lateral, and i don't mean that as a slight against c++ (for once, lol). same with 2d to 3d. turns out tim sweeny just says shit thinking we're stupid, imagine that. if he really knew anything, he would have said "c to rust," which would have also been nonsense but it would have gotten a funnier reaction at least.

Idk if Sweeney is trying to pull one over on people he thinks are dumb. I'd believe that he thinks those are meaningful changes because he's just a deluded twat.

It's not an exoneration. I'm just not angry at him, only derisive.

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petrol_sniff_king lemmy.blahaj.zone petrol_sniff_king@lemmy.blahaj.zone
Joined: 2023-07-01
#130 · Quote Reply

Sure. Either way, that’s not the argument that was made in the tweet. It was much more specific and easily countered, which is my broader point.

I still don't think you understand what I'm saying.

Tim Sweeney can say that he is skilled, actually, but 1), I don't believe him, and 2) his use of AI is disqualifying. He can say "but I do value the craft of making things," and I can say "no, he doesn't; here's the evidence: he uses AI."

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Spice Hoarder lemmy.zip spicehoarder@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2025-06-29
#131 · (edited) Quote Reply

Imagine responding to one of the most wholesome people in the entire video game industry with “this is bullshit” Real “Hans, do you think we’re the baddies?” moment

Oh my god. I didn't even realize that was THE Kenney

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Rob T Firefly lemmy.world rob_t_firefly@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-07
#132 · Quote Reply

Good grief is Sweeney an insufferable cunt.

Yes.

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cecilkorik piefed.ca cecilkorik@piefed.ca
Joined: 2025-06-07
#133 · Quote Reply

so its a typo for weeaboo?

Yes, OP has edited their post to correct it.

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maegul (he/they) lemmy.ml maegul@lemmy.ml
Joined: 2023-01-19
#134 · Quote Reply

I still don't think you understand what I'm saying. Tim Sweeney can say that he is skilled, actually, but 1), I don't believe him, and 2) his use of AI is disqualifying. He can say "but I do value the craft of making things," and I can say "no, he doesn't; here's the evidence: he uses AI."

I get what you’re saying. But that’s your thoughts not those presented in the Twitter excerpt, and I’m talking about that excerpt.

Slightly more broadly, yes one can make the point that you are, and it may have been a more interesting exchange on Twitter if it were made from the top.

More broadly, I still have concerns about the nature of “the discourse”, because I just don’t think you’re going to win many hearts and minds with this line of thinking without some change in the framing, by, eg, focusing on the harms and “evils” of AI (with the disqualification of those indifferent to such issues being a natural corollary).

But even then, I fear still that that conversation is being lost, and these sort of ad hominem attacks as we see in the excerpt and even your summary just above of disqualified people are symptom of anti-AI not knowing what to say anymore. I see your point about shaming and all, but I look around the world and honestly think it’s a pipe dream. I hope it works for you, genuinely.

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neclimdul lemmy.world neclimdul@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-07-01
#135 · Quote Reply

In reply to an earlier post

That's in interesting. i guess I'm not expired with overwhelming confidence though when it looks like their developing their next generation vcs on github instead of their platform.

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Mwa thelemmy.club Mwa@thelemmy.club
Joined: 2024-06-27
#136 · Quote Reply

Yes, OP has edited their post to correct it.

okay

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Equinox1289 sh.itjust.works Equinox1289@sh.itjust.works
Joined: 2026-05-14
#137 · Quote Reply

c to c++ isn't really moving forward, it's lateral, and i don't mean that as a slight against c++ (for once, lol). same with 2d to 3d. turns out tim sweeny just says shit thinking we're stupid, imagine that. if he really knew anything, he would have said "c to rust," which would have also been nonsense but it would have gotten a funnier reaction at least.

Thinking C++ is advanced C is like thinking C# is advanced Java. Even if they were really similar at a point, they've moved on and diverged into their own thing. Things don't necessarily get better; more often than not they just change.

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Mniot programming.dev Mniot@programming.dev
Joined: 2025-03-10
#138 · Quote Reply

c to c++ isn't really moving forward, it's lateral, and i don't mean that as a slight against c++ (for once, lol). same with 2d to 3d. turns out tim sweeny just says shit thinking we're stupid, imagine that. if he really knew anything, he would have said "c to rust," which would have also been nonsense but it would have gotten a funnier reaction at least.

2d->3d -- bigger number

c -> c++ -- two extra plusses (and plus already means extra!)

games -> epic games -- it's got "epic" in the name

You don't have to be a genus to see these are all better!

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Mniot programming.dev Mniot@programming.dev
Joined: 2025-03-10
#139 · Quote Reply

Isn't C++ built on top of C and able to do everything C can and then some? It's been a while since I've coded in it but I remember that being a kind of neat feature in C++. (I'm not searching it to confirm - just chatting about it)

All C code can be compiled with the C++ compiler, though there's some nuance (if you don't mark the C code as C, it behaves slightly differently which could mean it doesn't work).

C++ adds a bunch of language features (object-oriented programming and templates are two massive ones). This can make it easier to describe a concept in C++ than in C. But it also enables a lot of unneeded complexity (if C++ wasn't the best fit, or if the programmers aren't excellent) and the compiler is slower because of all the extra stuff. And the resulting binaries are much bigger. And it's harder to port the C++ compiler to other platforms. There's still plenty of situations where it makes more sense to use C over C++.

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Mniot programming.dev Mniot@programming.dev
Joined: 2025-03-10
#140 · Quote Reply

In reply to an earlier post

not producing precisely what the content creator wanted, so it favors people who don’t really have an opinion on the specifics

That's an interesting point that I haven't run into elsewhere!

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mefisdo_dot_info lemmy.ca mefisdo_dot_info@lemmy.ca
Joined: 2026-10-11
#141 · Quote Reply

AI is not the enemy. Oligarch owned AI is the enemy. (Because oligarchs are the enemy.)

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dev_null lemmy.ml dev_null@lemmy.ml
Joined: 2024-01-07
#142 · Quote Reply

That's in interesting. i guess I'm not expired with overwhelming confidence though when it looks like their developing their next generation vcs on github instead of their platform.

Epic have a git hosting platform / alternative to GitHub?

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ProfessorHoover infosec.pub ProfessorHoover@infosec.pub
Joined: 2025-08-19
#143 · Quote Reply

Oh my god. I didn't even realize that was THE Kenney

I'm out of the loop. Who is Kenney?

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neclimdul lemmy.world neclimdul@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-07-01
#144 · Quote Reply

Epic have a git hosting platform / alternative to GitHub?

lore... their custom vcs. an alternative to git. that was the only thing in this thread. did i miss something?

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petrol_sniff_king lemmy.blahaj.zone petrol_sniff_king@lemmy.blahaj.zone
Joined: 2023-07-01
#145 · Quote Reply

I get what you’re saying. But that’s your thoughts not those presented in the Twitter excerpt, and I’m talking about that excerpt. Slightly more broadly, yes one can make the point that you are, and it may have been a more interesting exchange on Twitter if it were made from the top. More broadly, I still have concerns about the nature of “the discourse”, because I just don’t think you’re going...

and these sort of ad hominem attacks as we see in the excerpt

But this is ultimately what I'm getting at: this is fine.

You have a period of natural discourse over the exact nature of the is and isn'ts, and at some point a truth is found, and any further disagreement is such you have to recognize is irrational and must simply be squashed.

It's not a lack of things to say; the people we're talking to are not listening. Targets like Tim Sweeney, anyway. Audience members actually like it when you dunk on bad people. It's cathartic. It feels like action.

If I had any criticism for these people, it's that this action tends not to metastasize into anything. We've had decades and decades of discourse over global warming, probably some of it mean, and yet nothing has really happened. Nobody wants to put in the work to bring these polluting companies to heel.

but I look around the world and honestly think it's a pipe dream.

I don't necessarily think that anything is going to happen either, but I also don't think that tempering our tones to be more civil and hyperfactual is helping.

To effect change, you need energy. And stopping people from hurrah-ing so that you can correct them on the nuances of their speech—speech that isn't even wrong, if I'm being perfectly honest—speech that is only idictable by some fractal of technicalities—stifles that energy. You lose momentum, naturally, by constantly stopping to check your shoe laces.


Anyway, I really don't mean to drag this out. I don't think you're a bad guy or anything, I just see a tone-policing thing happening here that irks me.

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petrol_sniff_king lemmy.blahaj.zone petrol_sniff_king@lemmy.blahaj.zone
Joined: 2023-07-01
#146 · Quote Reply

AI is not the enemy. Oligarch owned AI is the enemy. (Because oligarchs are the enemy.)

Gen AI is an anti-social technology that is not welcome anywhere, under any economic system.

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petrol_sniff_king lemmy.blahaj.zone petrol_sniff_king@lemmy.blahaj.zone
Joined: 2023-07-01
#147 · Quote Reply

I'm out of the loop. Who is Kenney?

He makes a lot of free video game assets. 3D model kits, etc. Really popular among the Godot crowd, I believe.

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kestrel7_7 lemmy.world kestrel7_7@lemmy.world
Joined: 2026-07-31
#148 · Quote Reply

I'm out of the loop. Who is Kenney?

https://kenney.nl/

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dickalan lemmy.world dickalan@lemmy.world
Joined: 2025-03-08
#149 · Quote Reply

2d->3d -- bigger number c -> c++ -- two extra plusses (and plus already means extra!) games -> epic games -- it's got "epic" in the name You don't have to be a genus to see these are all better!

I prefer the original name epic mega games

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heartSagan5 lemmy.zip heartSagan5@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2026-05-27
#150 · (edited) Quote Reply

https://kenney.nl/

Lol. He offers up kits, he mentions C++, and it’s a language I’ve never used (not C++). Lol

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TuringCompleteSocialist lemmy.world TuringCompleteSocialist@lemmy.world
Joined: 2026-03-31
#151 · (edited) Quote Reply

In reply to an earlier post

Chances are they never had any creativity to begin with.

Also anybody trying to convince you that games made with AI are a good thing, should be evaluated with the same level of seriousness as people who tell you that fast food is healthy.

I have downed my opinion on Tim Sweeney. Down yours too !

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