The US Department of Justice says it has raised concerns about the positions of directors on two company boards in violation of the Clayton Act.
Two directors of Fortnite creator Epic Games who were appointed by Chinese tech company Tencent Holdings have resigned following an antitrust investigation in the United States.
The US Department of Justice said in a statement on Wednesday that it had “expressed concerns” that management positions on both the Epic and Tencent boards violated the Clayton Act because Tencent owns Riot Games, video game based in Los Angeles. eSports developer and organizer.
Section 8 of the Clayton Act “prohibits directors and officers from serving concurrently on the boards of competitors, subject to limited exceptions”, according to the Department of Justice.
“Investigating related agencies remains an enforcement priority for the Antitrust Division,” said Deputy Director of Civil Enforcement Miriam R Vishio of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division.
Epic Games and the US Department of Justice did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera's request for comment. Tencent declined to comment.
Beyond Fortnite, Epic Games is also known as the developer of the Unreal Engine, a modern 3D video game engine.
North Carolina-based Epic Games is privately held, but Tencent has a minority stake in the company among its “equity investments” in other video game and media companies, according to Department of Justice.
Epic Games' other investors include Sony, Disney, Fidelity and BlackRock.
Tencent, one of the world's largest multimedia companies, is incorporated and domiciled in the Cayman Islands but is headquartered in Shenzhen, China.
The Justice Department's statement did not mention any national security concerns regarding Tencent or its Chinese ownership, in contrast to the US government's approach to other Chinese tech companies, such as ByteDance, which owns the media platform. social TikTok.
The video-sharing app is set to be banned in the US from January 19 unless Chinese owner ByteDance sells the platform.
Following the investigation, Tencent “decided to amend its shareholder agreement with Epic to include its unilateral right to appoint directors or observers to Epic's board in the future,” according to Department A. ' Justice.
The statement also said that, despite the resignation of the two unnamed directors, “no company or person has admitted that they are likely to be associated with this investigation”.
