Epic Games has had its share of legal victories over the years, including one over Google earlier in 2024. But when it comes to the federal government, the United States Justice Department just came down on Epic Games for violating Section 8 of the Clayton Act, which was put in place to keep members of the board of one company from being able to serve in the same capacity on a competitor’s board.
The Justice Department announced that two members of Epic’s board who were appointed by Tencent have voluntarily stepped down after the government raised the Clayton Act issue through its Antitrust Division. Tencent is a minority owner of Epic, and also the majority owner of Riot Games, the company behind League of Legends. Epic has since confirmed that the two departing board members are Ben Feder and David Wallerstein. Additionally, Tencent has relinquished its right to appoint any additional members to Epic’s board of directors.
“Our relationship with Epic has always centered on making great games and delivering great experiences for players and developers,” said a Tencent spokesperson. “We look forward to continuing to work with them on this shared vision.”
Epic subsequently announced that Feder and Wallerstein will be replaced by “two new independent board members [who] will be nominated by committees of Epic’s shareholders.” Feder and Wallerstein will presumably retain their positions on Tencent’s board.
Tencent is also a minority owner of Ubisoft, which is currently in negotiations with the company about a potential management buyout. The Guillemot family–which owns the largest stake in Ubisoft–reportedly wants to maintain control of the company in any deal, while Ubisoft has been said to be in a “greater say on future board decisions” in exchange for any future investment in the company. For now, no deal between the two companies has been announced.
Earlier this week, Epic went to court to sue an alleged cheater, whom the company claims has used unauthorized software to gain an unfair advantage during several of the company’s Fortnite tournaments, which allowed him to walk away with thousands of dollars in prize money. Meanwhile, Epic is still butting heads with Apple over the former’s desire to build an app store.