Tim Sweeney: Fortnite, Unreal Engine, and the Future of Gaming | Lex Fridman Podcast #467

Please Lex, get Gabe Newell on the podcast someday! And thanks for this one! You're the best podcaster around!

Flashback: It’s 1999 and I’m playing Unreal Tournament at a LAN party with 10 people for 48 hours straight. Huge monitors, huge switches. Static IPs, good to go, game on. So much fun.

These legendary programmers are always the best interviews. So much of tech today was built on shoulders like Tim Sweeney's

I love how he repeats many times that without incredible artists none of this would be possible. Its not just about the tools. Its the people that use them. A humble, no ego at all great man.

Linus Torvalds when?

Thank you for listening ❤ Check out our sponsors: https://lexfridman.com/sponsors/ep467-sa See below for timestamps, transcript, and to give feedback, submit questions, contact Lex, etc. 0:00 - Episode highlight 3:06 - Introduction 3:39 - 10,000 hours programming 6:56 - Advice for young programmers 15:07 - Video games in the 80s and 90s 17:16 - Epic Games origin story 29:54 - Indie game development 35:47 - Unreal Engine 1:01:44 - Technical details of Unreal Engine 1:06:36 - Constructive solid geometry 1:12:35 - Dynamic lighting 1:17:05 - Volumetric fog 1:20:32 - John Carmack 1:22:19 - Evolution of Unreal Engine 1:28:34 - Unreal Engine 5 1:39:45 - Creating realistic humans 1:48:54 - Lumen global illumination 1:53:24 - Movies 2:08:06 - Simulating reality 2:20:21 - Metaverse 2:22:57 - Fortnite 2:26:53 - Scaling 2:42:17 - Game economies 2:43:46 - Standardizing the Metaverse 2:51:59 - Verse programming language 3:13:32 - Concurrency 3:21:09 - Unreal Engine 6 3:25:47 - Indie game developers 3:28:45 - Apple 3:43:25 - Epic Games Store 4:06:16 - Future of gaming 4:12:16 - Greatest games ever made 4:17:53 - GTA 6 and Rockstar Games 4:21:12 - Hope for the future *Transcript:* https://lexfridman.com/tim-sweeney-transcript *CONTACT LEX:* *Feedback* - give feedback to Lex: https://lexfridman.com/survey *AMA* - submit questions, videos or call-in: https://lexfridman.com/ama *Hiring* - join our team: https://lexfridman.com/hiring *Other* - other ways to get in touch: https://lexfridman.com/contact *EPISODE LINKS:* Tim's X: https://x.com/timsweeneyepic Epic Games: https://epicgames.com/ *SPONSORS:* To support this podcast, check out our sponsors & get discounts: *Notion:* Note-taking and team collaboration. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/notion-ep467-sa *MasterClass:* Online classes from world-class experts. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/masterclass-ep467-sa *Shopify:* Sell stuff online. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/shopify-ep467-sa *AG1:* All-in-one daily nutrition drink. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/ag1-ep467-sa *LMNT:* Zero-sugar electrolyte drink mix. Go to https://lexfridman.com/s/lmnt-ep467-sa

Great podcast! I think Tim Sweeney & John Carmack were your best interviews so far, please do more IT people :)

I have an 8 hour drive home tomorrow. I’m thankful for half that trip, I’ll be listening to this.

Despite being over four and a half hours long, I didn’t miss a single word—absolutely captivating. Tim Sweeney’s depth of knowledge is incredible, and the way he explains complex topics so clearly is truly impressive. On top of that, his humility and down-to-earth attitude make him even more admirable. A true visionary and a rare kind of leader!

The ZZT talk unlocked a core childhood memory. I forgot all about that game.