Harrison, attempting to explain that Google’s interest in Epic wasn’t just about influence but rather synergies — that Epic CEO Tim Sweeney himself expressed interest in licensing out the Unreal Engine to more mobile game developers on an early 2020 phone call.

Sweeney was also “critical of Play’s business model” on the call, though. “He didn’t agree with it,” says Harrison.

“He felt we’d drawn the line in the wrong place, that we had large companies subsidizing small companies, and that wasn’t the right way to have developed the model.” That definitely cuts at Epic’s David v. Goliath narrative if true.

Note: Google’s Project Elektra idea of buying a controlling stake in Epic was from 2018. it’s not clear if Elektra was still in play in 2020.