Microsoft's intentions must be judged by Microsoft's actions, not Microsoft's words. Their actions speak plainly enough: they are working to turn today's open-PC ecosystem into a closed, Microsoft-controlled distribution and commerce monopoly.
All signs point to there being many virtual and augmented reality competitors, and not just a single, dominant company.
Augmented reality will change the world more than a lot of other technologies. Traveling around to meet people will be much less important when you can stand in a room and chat with a virtual representation of a person that's so close to reality - it'll be a whole new level.
I believe that augmented reality will be the biggest technological revolution that happens in our lifetimes.
Once you have an augmented reality display, you don't need any other form of display. Your smart phone does not need a screen. You don't need a tablet. You don't need a TV. You just take the screen with you on your glasses wherever you go.
Augmented reality will drive all things like chat, social networking, photos, videos, organizing data, modeling, painting, motion capture, and visual programming. Every form of computing will be combined together and unified in a single platform.
If you black out the background in AR, you could make an immersive VR experience, and if you make the view translucent so you can see through it, you just have an augmented view of the real world. I think that's the ultimate and best form of display tech we'll have.
As more and more people are automated out of the economy through robotics and self-driving cars and other technologies, there will be a way to create value for other human beings online. There will be a virtual economy for exchanging value, goods and services, entertainment experiences, and all that.
My experience with Epic is handing off more and more power to the point where I can just sit back and look at our strategy or technology. I provide guidance without being responsible for any particular part of the company.
I see a bright future for the future of computing and its implications for games.
I would play games long enough to discover what games were doing and how they were doing it. And then I'd spend the rest of my time building.
Within our lifetimes, we will be able to push out enough computational power to simulate reality.
'Fortnite' is the same game on all platforms, including high-end consoles and PCs.
Hollywood is moving movie production into VR because it may be more immersive. We see a convergence of different forms of media. VR and AR provide next-generation viewing experiences for games, movies, and visualization.
As soon as a critical mass of people in the world gained access to devices with high-end graphics and Internet connectivity, the rise of games like 'Fortnite' became inevitable.
I believe Microsoft has every right to operate a PC app store and to curate it how they choose.
Epic will manually curate the Epic Games storefront rather than relying on algorithms or paid ads.
The thing that excites me most technologically is the ability to use VR not just for games and displaying our content, but also for creating that content. We're putting a lot of thought into what the Unreal Engine editor looks like as a VR application.
First, we want to have a direct relationship with our customers wherever we can. On open platforms like PC and Android, it's possible for them to get the software direct from us. We can be in contact with them and not have a third-party distributor in between.
Unity is a kind of engine for the everyman.
