Fortnite is usually in the news for game-related fun, but now it’s making headlines thanks to the generosity of Tim Sweeney. Sweeney, the CEO and founder of Epic Games, recently bought over 40,000 acres of wilderness in the United States to preserve it.
According to The News & Observer, the billionaire is trying to protect land in North Carolina. His goal is to save large areas of land with high conservation value before developers can destroy them.
Over the last decade, he’s donated 7,000 acres of forest to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and 7,500 acres to the Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy.
This year, Sweeney teamed up with The Conservation Fund to sell land to the North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation to help expand Mount Mitchell State Park. Currently, Sweeney owns 54,000 acres across 15 counties.
“Most of my big conservation land purchasing breakthroughs came when the economy was in poor shape and land was prudently priced,” Sweeney explained to The News & Observer. “Since 2021, the economy has been stronger, land has become more expensive, and my focus has moved to getting large blocks of contiguous conservation lands I’ve acquired since 2009 into permanent conservation.”
“In some places, long-time local families wanted land adjoining theirs for expansion, and I’ve accommodated that wherever it was compatible with conserving key natural habitat,” he added. “And in a few places, conservation plans didn’t work out and I sold stranded tracts of land to local folks.”
Fortnite fans react to Tim Sweeney’s generosity
While Fortnite fans are used to talking about skins and emotes, they’re currently taking to the Internet to praise Sweeney. It’s not every day a billionaire uses their money to help the planet.
“That kind of large-scale preservation is a powerful statement, showing that not every piece of valuable land needs to be monetized or built upon. It’s mighty respectable to see such a commitment to keeping some natural beauty untouched for generations,” one person tweeted.
“Damn dude even he prefers no build” joked @GernaderJake.
“That’s honestly admirable. Using wealth to preserve nature instead of paving over it is such a power move,” someone else observed.
“Bro made Fortnite money and decided to save the actual map,” another person joked.
“That’s awesome. A tech whiz using his success to preserve our wild lands. Real American stewardship right there,” another commented.
The Epic Games founder has spent years buying and donating land with high conservation value
Sweeney’s social media is filled with Epic Games-related content, but you can also catch him posting about his conservation efforts.
“Carolina Hill forest restoration project, Chatham County, North Carolina. Following 160 years as a farm and then chemically managed pine plantation, restoration to natural Oak, Shortleaf Pine and Longleaf Pine began. It was a mess for 10 years, but has turned the corner,” he recently posted.
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