politics
January 23, 2026
Epic and Google have a secret $800 million Unreal Engine and services deal
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TL;DR
- A judge is investigating a potential link between a previously unannounced Epic Games-Google partnership and their antitrust settlement.
- The new deal reportedly involves joint product development, marketing, and Google's use of Epic's Unreal Engine for its products, including Android.
- Epic plans to spend $800 million over six years on Google services, described as a 'new business' and a 'significant transfer of value from Epic to Google'.
- The judge is concerned this partnership might be a 'quid pro quo' that lessens Epic's motivation to advocate for changes benefiting other developers.
- Epic CEO Tim Sweeney stated the deal is related to the 'metaverse' and Epic's core technology, and expects the settlement and deal to be crucial for Epic's future growth.
- The judge suggested the business deal and the settlement are contingent on each other.
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