Sweeney Reposts 2000 Post Defending Looking Glass Closure
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney reshared his 2000 comment calling the studio's shutdown a matter of economics, applying the same argument to current cuts.
Tim Sweeney, founder and CEO of Epic Games, reposted his own comment from 2000 about the closure of Looking Glass Studios on social media on October 23, 2026, according to gamesradar.com. In the reposted comment, Sweeney had described the studio's shutdown as economically realistic rather than a sad event.
In his post, Sweeney framed the game industry's current downturn as one of several crashes in gaming history, rather than a single exceptional event.
He said he writes about the root causes of the industry crash instead of lamenting it as a sad act of nature, and added that teams not producing profitable games are being cut.
Looking Glass Studios closed in 2000. The developer had created the immersive sim genre with Ultima Underworld, System Shock and Thief.
The article draws a comparison with the recent shutdown of BioWare, the studio behind Mass Effect and Dragon Age, which was closed after being acquired by Electronic Arts years earlier.
Quick answers
What did Tim Sweeney repost about Looking Glass Studios?
He reposted his own 2000 comment describing the studio's closure as economically realistic, and argued that current industry cuts reflect the same economics.
When did Looking Glass Studios close?
The studio, known for Ultima Underworld, System Shock and Thief, closed in 2000.