cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/49263187

Tim Sweeney claims it’s a “Scarlet Letter” which makes players “try to kill the game”

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has criticised rival Valve for forcing studios to disclose when they use AI in game development.

Epic recently showed how it was integrating AI into Unreal Engine 6.

Time Sweeney said:

“If you want to launch a game, and get it as widely publicized as possible, you’ve got to put it on Steam so people can wish list it, and if you want to play it on Steam, then you have to get this Scarlet Letter of AI attached to your product, and now there is a hater community trying to kill the game.

“I think it’s really irresponsible of Valve. They shouldn’t do it, because it makes it much, much, much harder for a game developer to have a chance of success. You have to choose from either not using tools that can make you way more productive, and probably failing due to competition that does.”

Which is totally ignoring the factor that the user should know about the purchase it makes and be able to decide for themselves. Transparency for the player is not a bad thing.

  • Kirp123@lemmy.world
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    23 days ago

    Fuck you Tim Sweeney. Valve is right for putting that info up so people can make informed purchases.

      • Snot Flickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        23 days ago

        Disney uses the hell out of Unreal Engine tho, they used it extensively for the filming of The Mandalorian.

        I wish they’d go bankrupt but they will be fine off of Unreal royalties alone.

      • Omega_Jimes@lemmy.ca
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        23 days ago

        I mean, they’ve been around for 35 years and they do something like 5 billion USD a year in revenue. I think they’re going to be fine.

        I don’t necessarily want this iteration of Epic to be fine, but I’m sure they will be

  • Soup@lemmy.world
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    22 days ago

    Super strong “If I told you who I really was you’d never have slept with me!” energy.

    It’s called consent. If people wouldn’t want to engage with the content unless they were misled in some way then that amounts to manipulation and a violation of trust. Looks like Epic Games just told the whole world that they would lie to their customers if they felt like the truth would give them too much choice.

    Fuck ‘em.

    • thingsiplay@lemmy.ml
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      23 days ago

      They give you lot of reasons to. For me it was a personal thing when I really started to hate Epic Games. 2019 Epic purchased the studio of Rocket League, when the game was in a hype phase and I played and enjoyed it very much on my Linux system. Shortly after they removed the Linux support for the game and then they also removed it from Steam as well. Due to an update of the game it was no longer viable to support it on Linux they said.

      This really really bugged me on a personal level. Today I think the game is playable on Linux, I don’t know exactly. But it requires Epic Games Launcher and probably account on them. To me the game is dead. And Epic killed it (for me).

      • slacktoid@lemmy.ml
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        23 days ago

        Yes! This is exactly why I too hate epic. They could throw a free game at me, I’d still buy it on steam. I have no intention of going where I’m not wanted.

        And I was just getting good at rocket league

    • olympicyes@lemmy.world
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      23 days ago

      Sweeney doesn’t like games, he’s just into programming and game engines. That might help the disconnect between him and gamers.

  • tabular@lemmy.world
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    23 days ago

    “We must do X at any cost to the user because others will do it and get the money”

    This mentality has driven the games industry to become psychologically manipulative, subscription battleass and absolutely proprietary.

    Maybe the irresponsibility is in ourselves for giving those game companies money.

  • binux@sh.itjust.works
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    23 days ago

    Bitch-boy CEO whining about rival company that epitomizes everything he doesn’t have at every chance he gets, very typical behaviour just carry on

  • tabular@lemmy.world
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    23 days ago

    “Think of the game-devs needing to make money” says a fat cat talking about a tool forged from game-dev’s labour without compensation and disregarding any social contracts (i.e. copyleft software licenses).

  • Lemmayng@lemmy.world
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    23 days ago

    Tim Sweeney, the pedophile (protector) who insists that pedophiles aren’t using Roblox to commit pedophilic crimes by preying on minors? That Tim Sweeney?

    • db2@lemmy.world
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      23 days ago

      He also says that stopping ai generated csam is “gatekeeping”.

      Whenever I say this his apologists magically appear.

      • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
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        22 days ago

        …gatekerping csam? Or gatekeeping AI?

        Because both are rediculous statements, but for entirely different reasons.

  • Ada@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    23 days ago

    Interesting that he frames LLMs as both a tool that he needs to use to compete, whilst also framing their use as a scarlet letter that will tank sales if he uses them.

  • cley_faye@lemmy.world
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    22 days ago

    “Oh no, informing people allows them to decide for themselves, we can’t have that! I, sweeney whiney, must protect the world from informed decisions!”

    • Tim Sweeney, wearing is burger king cardboard crown screaming in front of his mirror alone.
  • Teratologique@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    21 days ago

    Indie games like Stardew Valley and Undertale don’t need generative AI, skill issue much?

    What next, it’s “irresponsible” to mention the system requirements because people won’t buy games that are too advanced for their device, which is depriving devs of sales?

    Maybe being anti-consumer isn’t the best strategy to bring those “consumer” things to your marketplace, Tim.

    • ranzispa@mander.xyz
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      21 days ago

      Stardew Valley and Undertale

      Games developed before generative AI was widely available and usable for software development.

      TBF I believe indie games will benefit the most from generative AI. Letting a model have to worry about quaternions definitely makes things easier.

  • Toga77@lemmy.world
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    22 days ago

    It’s really irresponsible for Tim Sweeney to be a such a fucking moron but he hasn’t stopped that yet.