By Erin Griffith

艾琳·格里菲斯(Erin Griffith)

SAN FRANCISCO — Tim Sweeney, chief executive and founder of video game maker Epic Games, has antagonized the world’s most powerful technology giants since at least 2016.

旧金山—视频游戏开发商Epic Games的首席执行官兼创始人蒂姆·斯威尼(Tim Sweeney)至少从2016年起就与世界上最强大的技术巨头抗衡。

That year, Sweeney, a self-described computer nerd with a slightly nervous energy, lashed out in an op-ed against Microsoft, saying it was attempting “sneaky maneuvers” to dominate personal computer games. He also knocked Facebook’s Oculus Rift app store as “disappointing” for not being as “open” as it claimed.

那年，一个自我描述的书呆子斯威尼(Sweeney)有点神经质的精力，在反对微软的行动中遭到猛烈抨击 ，称其正试图“偷偷摸摸的操纵”来统治个人电脑游戏。 他还指责Facebook的Oculus Rift应用程序商店“未如其声称的那样“开放”， 令人 “ 失望 ”。

In 2018, Sweeney went at it again. He launched Fortnite, Epic’s popular video game, outside Google’s Play Store to bypass its app store fees, which he called a “tax” and “disproportionate.” And in January at an industry conference, he declared that “undue power has accrued to many of the participants who are not at the core of the industry.”

2018年，斯威尼再次参加比赛。 他在Google Play商店外推出了Epic最受欢迎的视频游戏Fortnite，以绕过其应用商店收费，他称其为“税”和“不成比例的”。 在1月份的一次行业会议上，他宣布“对并非行业核心的许多参与者都施加了不适当的权力。”

His mission to rein in the power of the tech companies has now reached a fever pitch. Sweeney is preparing for a protracted legal battle after Apple and Google banned Fortnite, which is played by more than 350 million people, from their stores this month for trying to get around its payment systems. In response, Epic sued both companies, accusing them of violating antitrust laws by forcing developers to use those payment systems.

他控制科技公司力量的使命现在已经达到了顶峰。 在苹果和谷歌于本月从其商店中禁止拥有超过3.5亿人玩耍的Fortnite试图绕过其支付系统后，Sweeney正在为旷日持久的法律斗争做准备。 作为回应， Epic起诉两家公司 ，指责它们违反了反托拉斯法，迫使开发商使用这些支付系统。

Sweeney’s yearslong public crusade against the tech Goliaths suggests that the issue is not something he will easily drop. People close to him said the fight was not about money or ego. Instead, they said, it is firmly about principle.

斯威尼(Sweeney)多年来对高科技歌利亚(Goliaths)的公开征战表明，他不会轻易放弃这个问题。 接近他的人说，这场斗争与金钱或自我无关。 他们说，相反，这完全是原则。

“He sees a vision of the world that is fair and open,” said Bradley Twohig, a venture capitalist at Lightspeed Venture Partners, which has invested in Epic.

投资于Epic的Lightspeed Venture Partners的风险投资家布拉德利·特希格(Bradley Twohig)表示：“他看到的是一个公平，开放的世界愿景。”

Bruce Stein, chief executive of esports startup aXiomatic and an investor in Epic, said, “He was principled before he had the money to not be principled.”

电子竞技创业公司aXiomatic的首席执行官兼Epic的投资人布鲁斯·斯坦(Bruce Stein)说：“他在没有钱之前就被放任自大了。”

How deeply Sweeney feels about tech power will be key as the fight with Apple and Google escalates. On Monday, a federal judge in the U.S. District Court of Northern California temporarily blocked Apple from cutting off support for an Epic software development tool called Unreal Engine. Mr. Sweeney had said that if Unreal Engine were cut off, it would be an “existential threat” to his company’s $17 billion business. The judge, who did not require Apple to bring Fortnite back to the App Store, will rule again on the matter next month.

随着与苹果和谷歌的争夺升级，Sweeney对技术力量的深刻程度将是关键。 周一，北加州美国地方法院的一名联邦法官暂时阻止了苹果公司终止对Epic软件开发工具Unreal Engine的支持。 斯威尼曾表示，如果切断虚幻引擎，这将对其公司的170亿美元业务构成“生存威胁”。 法官并没有要求苹果将Fortnite带回App Store，他将在下个月再次作出裁决。

In an interview last month, Sweeney, 49, said the stakes of the antitrust investigations into tech giants like Apple and Google were no smaller than the future of humanity. “Otherwise you have these corporations who control all commerce and all speech,” he said. He declined to be interviewed for this article, citing the active lawsuits, but has written on Twitter that he is “fighting for open platforms and policy changes equally benefiting all developers.”

49岁的斯威尼(Sweeney)在上个月的一次采访中表示，对苹果和谷歌等科技巨头进行的反托拉斯调查的赌注不亚于人类的未来。 他说：“否则，这些公司将控制所有商业活动和所有言论。” 他以积极的诉讼为由拒绝接受这篇文章的采访，但在Twitter上写道，他“正在争取开放平台和政策变化，这将使所有开发人员同样受益”。

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“I don’t think we are going to be swayed unless we get what we think is right,” Adam Sussman, Epic’s president, said in an interview Monday. “We will always sacrifice short term for long term.”

Epic总裁亚当·萨斯曼(Adam Sussman)周一在接受采访时说：“除非我们得到我们认为正确的东西，否则我们不会摇摆不定。” “我们将长期牺牲长期利益。”

Other developers have embraced Epic’s cause. Spotify, the music streaming app, and Match Group, the maker of dating apps like Tinder, have released statements applauding Epic’s moves. In a legal brief Sunday, Epic also outlined Microsoft’s support for it.

其他开发人员也接受了Epic的事业。 音乐流媒体应用程序Spotify和Tinder等约会应用程序的制造商Match Group发布了赞扬Epic举动的声明。 在周日的法律摘要中，Epic还概述了Microsoft对它的支持。

But to many others, Sweeney faces an uphill battle. In conversations with a dozen of Epic’s investors and former executives, as well as with deal-makers and analysts in the gaming industry, many said that while they supported Sweeney’s stance, few expected him to prevail in all of his demands against Apple and Google.

但是对于许多其他人来说，斯威尼面临艰苦的战斗。 在与Epic的许多投资者和前高管以及游戏行业的交易制定者和分析师进行的对话中，许多人表示，尽管他们支持Sweeney的立场，但很少有人期望Sweeney在针对苹果和Google的所有要求中都占上风。

“It’s a herculean uphill battle for them to beat Apple in court,” said Dan Ives, an analyst with Wedbush Securities, because Epic violated the terms of the App Store.

Wedbush Securities的分析师丹·艾夫斯(Dan Ives)表示：“要让他们在法庭上击败苹果，这是一场艰苦的艰巨战斗，因为Epic违反了App Store的条款。

Asked for comment, Apple referred Monday to its latest legal filing, in which it said Epic’s “‘emergency’ is entirely of Epic’s own making.” Google said it would “welcome the opportunity to continue our discussions with Epic and bring Fortnite back to Google Play.”

在征询意见时，苹果公司周一提到了其最新的法律文件，其中称Epic的“'紧急情况'完全是Epic自己制造的。” 谷歌表示，它将“欢迎有机会继续与Epic进行讨论，并将Fortnite带回Google Play。”

Sweeney, who grew up in Potomac, Maryland, and whose father worked for the Defense Mapping Agency, got into technology as a child. At age 9, he learned to code on an Apple II computer. In 1991, as a college student, he started Potomac Computer Systems, selling games on floppy disks via mail from his parents’ basement.

斯威尼(Sweeney)在马里兰州波托马克(Potomac)长大，其父亲为美国国防测绘局(​​Defense Mapping Agency)工作，小时候就开始学习技术。 9岁那年，他学会了在Apple II计算机上进行编码。 1991年，作为一名大学生，他创办了Potomac Computer Systems，通过父母地下室的邮件在软盘上出售游戏。

He eventually dropped out of the University of Maryland, where he had studied mechanical engineering. In 1992, he changed his company’s name to Epic MegaGames, then later dropped “Mega” and moved the startup to North Carolina.

他最终退出了马里兰大学，在那里学习机械工程学。 1992年，他将公司的名称更改为Epic MegaGames，然后放弃了“ Mega”，并将创业公司移至北卡罗莱纳州。

Epic, now based in Cary, North Carolina, began licensing its tools for graphics and game development — such as Unreal Engine — to other companies. That became a steady source of income, smoothing out the hits-or-bust nature of the games business.

Epic现在位于北卡罗来纳州的卡里，开始将其用于图形和游戏开发的工具(例如，虚幻引擎)授权给其他公司。 这成为稳定的收入来源，消除了游戏业务的兴衰。

In Epic’s early days, Sweeney was an awkward, quirky developer with a renegade streak who spent every waking hour writing code, investors and former colleagues said.

投资者和前同事说，在Epic的早期，Sweeney是一个笨拙，古怪的开发人员，有着叛逆的风格，花了每个小时的时间编写代码。

But he did get some use out of his Ferraris. “Having a fancy car is an excellent hobby when you’re a workaholic,” Sweeney said in an interview posted to YouTube in 2008. “Even if you don’t have any free time, you can still drive to work.”

但是他确实从法拉利身上得到了一些利用。 斯威尼在2008年发布给YouTube的一次采访中说：“当您是工作狂时，拥有一辆高档汽车是一个很好的爱好。” “即使您没有任何空闲时间，您仍然可以开车去上班。”

By then, Sweeney had shown his stubborn streak. When Silicon Knights, a game development company, sued Epic in 2007 over Unreal Engine’s licensing, Epic spent five years and millions in legal costs to win the suit rather than settle.

到那时，斯威尼已经表现出了他的顽强连胜。 当游戏开发公司Silicon Knights在2007年因虚幻引擎的许可而起诉Epic时，Epic花了五年时间和数百万的法律费用来赢得诉讼，而不是和解。

Over the years, Sweeney also worked diligently to keep control of Epic, which is privately held. In 2012, when Epic considered selling itself, it found two options: It could sell a majority stake in its operations to Warner Bros. for roughly $800 million, or sell a minority stake for the same valuation to Tencent, the Chinese internet company, a person with knowledge of the discussions said.

多年以来，Sweeney还努力保持对私有企业Epic的控制。 在2012年，史诗考虑出售自己时，它发现了两种选择：可以以大约8亿美元的价格将其业务的多数股权出售给华纳兄弟，或以相同的估值将少数股权出售给中国互联网公司腾讯(Tencent)。有讨论知识的人说。

Even though the Warner plan had more potential business advantages, Epic went with Tencent, which kept Sweeney in control.

尽管华纳的计划具有更多潜在的业务优势，但Epic还是选择了腾讯，后者使Sweeney处于控制之中。

His antagonism toward the Big Tech platforms began a few years later when Epic started building Fortnite, a battle royale-style fighting game that later expanded into a more creative mode where players could build their own games and challenges.

几年后，Epic开始建立Fortnite，这是一款战斗大逃杀风格的格斗游戏，他对大型技术平台的敌对行动开始了，后来扩展为更具创造力的模式，玩家可以自行创建游戏和挑战。

“We wanted to build online games and have a direct relationship with our customers,” Sweeney said in the July interview. He added that he had discovered that the fees from the app stores meant that Apple and Google could sometimes make more money on a game than its creators.

斯威尼在7月份的采访中说：“我们希望开发在线游戏并与我们的客户建立直接关系。” 他补充说，他发现从应用程序商店收取的费用意味着苹果和谷歌有时可以在游戏上赚取比创造者更多的钱。

“That’s totally unjust,” he said. “That shows the market is out of control.”

他说：“那是完全不公正的。” “这表明市场失控了。”

Epic began work on its own app store, which it introduced in 2018. Epic’s store charges a 12% fee when a developer sells its wares through the store, compared with Google’s and Apple’s 30% cuts. After Epic created its games store, a competitor, Steam, lowered its fees from 30% to 20% for the biggest sellers.

Epic开始在自己的应用商店中开展工作，该应用商店于2018年推出。当开发人员通过商店销售商品时，Epic的商店收取12％的费用，而Google和Apple则削减30％。 在Epic创建游戏商店之后，竞争对手Steam将最大卖家的收费从30％降低到20％。

In 2017, Fortnite became a runaway hit. Investors swarmed, and Epic raised more than $3 billion in funding from backers including Sony, KKR, BlackRock and Fidelity. Even with all the new investors, Sweeney maintained majority control, allowing him to focus on the long term.

2017年，《堡垒之夜》(Fortnite)一炮走红。 投资者蜂拥而至，Epic从包括索尼，KKR，贝莱德和富达在内的支持者那里筹集了超过30亿美元的资金。 即使有了所有新的投资者，Sweeney仍保持多数控制权，使他能够专注于长期发展。

“When you invest in Epic, you are signing up for a different journey,” Stein of aXiomatic said. “One that is focused on the gamer audience, not on quarterly results.”

“当您在Epic进行投资时，您正在签定不同的旅程，” aXiomatic的Stein说。 “一个专注于游戏玩家的受众，而不是季度业绩。”

Sweeney’s ambitions go beyond the gaming world. Fortnite is not just a place to fight virtual battles, the idea goes, but also a potential home for the “metaverse,” a digital universe for all kinds of interactions and experiences. In April, nearly 28 million people attended a Travis Scott concert inside Fortnite.

Sweeney的野心超越了游戏世界。 该想法认为，Fortnite不仅是进行虚拟战斗的地方，而且还是“元宇宙”的潜在故乡，“元宇宙”是一个具有各种互动和体验的数字世界。 4月，近2千8百万人参加了Fortnite内部的Travis Scott音乐会。

Sweeney has backed down once from a fight with a tech giant. In April, two years after releasing Fortnite outside the Google Play Store, Epic agreed to offer the game through the store. It said it was doing so because users were encountering “scary, repetitive security pop-ups” to download and update the app outside the Play Store.

斯威尼(Sweeney)曾因与一家科技巨头的战斗而退缩。 在4月，也就是Fortnite在Google Play商店之外发布两年之后，Epic同意通过该商店提供该游戏。 它说这样做是因为用户在Play商店外遇到“ 可怕的重复性安全弹出窗口 ”以下载和更新应用程序。

Even so, Sweeney was not afraid to thumb his nose at the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. This month, Epic started encouraging Fortnite’s mobile-app users to pay it directly, rather than through Apple or Google. That violated Apple’s and Google’s rules that they handle all such app payments so they can collect their 30% commission.

即便如此，Sweeney还是不怕在Apple App Store和Google Play Store上nose之以鼻。 本月，Epic开始鼓励Fortnite的移动应用程序用户直接付款，而不是通过Apple或Google进行付款。 这违反了Apple和Google的规定，即他们处理所有此类应用程序付款，因此他们可以收取30％的佣金。

In response, Apple banned Fortnite from its store; Google later did the same. Epic was ready. It rallied its fans around the hashtag #FreeFortnite and published a video satirizing Apple’s famous “1984” ad, which had portrayed Apple as the underdog. The parody included a villain wearing the same sunglasses as Apple’s chief executive, Tim Cook.

作为回应，苹果禁止其商店中的Fortnite。 谷歌后来做了同样的事情。 史诗准备好了。 它在#FreeFortnite标签周围召集了粉丝，并发布了一段讽刺苹果著名的“ 1984”广告的视频，该广告将苹果描绘成失败者。 模仿者包括与苹果公司首席执行官蒂姆·库克(Tim Cook)戴同一副太阳镜的反派。

On Sunday, Epic hosted a #FreeFortnite gaming contest offering anti-Apple hats and digital avatars as prizes. And Sweeney? He also played along.

周日，Epic举办了#FreeFortnite游戏竞赛，提供反Apple帽子和数字化身作为奖品。 还有理发师吗 他也一起玩。

Jack Nicas contributed reporting.

杰克·尼卡斯(Jack Nicas)贡献了报告。

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