Two directors of Epic Games, Tencent resign amid antitrust investigation | Entertainment News

The US Department of Justice says it has expressed concern that director positions on the boards of two companies have violated the Clayton Act.

Two directors of Fortnite creator Epic Games appointed by the Chinese technology company Tencent Holdings have left their positions after an antitrust investigation in the United States.

The US Department of Justice said in a statement Wednesday that it had “expressed concern” that director positions on both Epic and Tencent’s boards violated the Clayton Act because Tencent owns Riot Games, a Los Angeles-based video game company. developer and e-sports editor.

Section 8 of the Clayton Act “prohibits directors and officers from serving concurrently on competing boards, subject to limited selection”, according to the Department of Justice.

“Scrutiny of affiliates continues to be a top compliance priority for the Antitrust Division,” said Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Miriam R Vishio of the Antitrust Division.

Epic Games and the US Department of Justice did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment. Tencent declined to comment.

Beyond Fortnite, Epic Games is also known as the developer of Unreal Engine, a realistic 3D video game engine.

North Carolina-based Epic Games is privately held, but Tencent holds a small stake in the company amid “equity investments” in other video games and media companies, according to the Justice Department.

Epic Games’ other investors include Sony, Disney, Fidelity and BlackRock.

Tencent, one of the world’s largest multimedia companies, is incorporated and domiciled in the Cayman Islands but has its headquarters in Shenzhen, China.

The Justice Department’s statement did not mention any national security concerns about Tencent or its Chinese ownership, unlike how the US government views other Chinese technology companies, such as ByteDance, which owns the social media platform TikTok.

The video-sharing app is expected to be banned in the US from January 19 if its Chinese owner ByteDance does not sell the platform.

After the investigation, Tencent decided to “amend its shareholders’ agreement with Epic to waive its sole right to nominate directors or observers to Epic’s board in the future,” according to the Justice Department.

The statement also said that despite the resignation of the two unnamed directors, “no company or individual has admitted responsibility in relation to this investigation”.