Epic Games' Tim Sweeney addresses Chinese spyware rumor

Epic Games' Tim Sweeney stepped in to squash the rumor that the Epic Games Store is actually Chinese spyware.

The rumor began to spread after Chinese tech company Tencent invested in Epic Games and its digital marketplace, the Epic Games Store.

There are many criticisms of the store ranging from lack of features to general design, but the most outrageous claims state that Epic is being used by the Chinese government to spy on players. 

"I support everyone’s right to complain about tech industry stuff," Sweeney tweeted. At the beginning of his thread, he references coverage by USgamer providing more context into how the rumor circulated. 

"Epic’s store, with exclusive games and a spartan feature set, is a fine target for ire. But please help separate facts and opinions from the lies about spyware and foreign control."

"I’m the controlling shareholder in Epic Games, and have been since 1991. We have a number of outside investors now," the thread continues.

"Tencent is the largest. All of Epic’s investors our friends and partners. None can dictate decisions to Epic. None have access to Epic customer data."

In response to Sweeney’s thread, former Valve developer Richard Geldreich chimed in to assert that claim that the Epic store is spyware are “insane," saying that Valve gathers “huge amounts of data about virtually everything you do with the Steam client. Yet no one calls Steam spyware.”