Due to the hype around cryptocurrencies, an entire generation of programmers has focused on blockchain technology, which negatively affects the development of the gaming industry. In an interview with IGN, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said.
The company is currently facing a shortage of highly skilled programmers capable of developing truly revolutionary technologies for video games, he noted.
There has been a lot of neglect, as everyone leaves, […] we are missing an entire generation of programmers who would traditionally push this line,
— Sweeney said.
According to him, Epic Games is trying to ‘fill the gaps’ through the work of its research group.
“I think there are new game genres that will emerge from the technologies being developed now,” added the head of the company.
Fortnite ecosystem chief Sax Persson backed Sweeney’s view. He noted that modern commercial game engines and game architecture are essentially what was developed 20–30 years ago.
The resource is exhausted, and we need to fundamentally change the programming model to go beyond the current boundaries, Persson emphasised.
During the interview, Sweeney repeatedly touched on the metaverse. Journalists note the Fortnite ecosystem is increasingly aligned with this concept. This is aided by recent changes to the in-game economy.
In April 2022, Epic Games raised $2 billion to develop metaverse-related projects. Half of the funding was provided by Sony Corporation.
In July, Sweeney came to the defense of NFT games, rejecting demands by some users to remove such products from the Epic Games Store.