People like to paint Sweeney as some massive conspiracy driven guy, forgetting about the historical precedent of MS and most OS holders deprecating "legacy" features and support. With a focus entirely on the Windows Store and conversion of Win32 apps to something UWP compliant, none of this is so far fetched.
And let's not forget Sweeney is not some purely anti-microsoft "salty" guy.
Just two weeks ago Sweeney did an interview with GameSpot that got entirely ignored here:
Tim Sweeney Criticizes Microsoft/Oculus and Talks Project Scorpio
During that, he blasts Microsoft and Oculus, and suggests that both companies are using anti-competitive business strategies.
At the same time, however, Sweeney also defends Oculus right to garner platform exclusives and talks up Scorpio / faster console cycles / Windows 10. More on point specifically on Microsoft:
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Q - You've previously said some pretty harsh words in regards to Microsoft about monopolizing game development on PCs. You wrote an op-ed with The Guardian. Do you still feel strongly about that?
A - I'm not a general critic of Microsoft. I just have one specific concern. ...my view is that Windows 10 is an awesome operating system, it's the best yet. Windows Store is a good store, and it's great to have another source of games out there and it's great that Microsoft will be bringing so many of its Xbox games to PC. I think all of these are great steps forward for the PC. My sole concern, and it's a big one, is with UWP (Universal Windows Platform). Microsoft creating a framework by which they could very easily shut off the PC as an open platform in the future. There's a real risk if developers adopt this technology widely and Microsoft flips one switch and suddenly you can't install games from sources other than Microsoft on some versions of Windows. That's a fear I continue to have. It's the reason that Epic has not adopted that, the UWP technology. Despite feeling that there are some great technical features in it. It's a safer Windows API that prevents a ...It runs in a sandbox like iOS and prevents applications from behaving like a virus, yeah. But my view is that Microsoft has to make clear commitments about where this technology will go in the future, if they want developers to adopt it; because if they do not do that, it would be foolish for us to go down that path, which basically gives them all of the rope they need to hang us.
Q - I'm guessing that the controversial Windows 10 automatic updates do not sit very well with you then.
A - Well, as a user, I'm not a fan of that. I think Apple has a good balance in making it super easy to update your operating system, but not mandatory. I think that would be an improvement. I think it's perfectly valid to have automatic updates be the default. It is the right answer for most users, but the problem with the forced patches is that they bundle things that fundamentally change the rules of the platform. Now, Apple doesn't do that. Apple's never released an iOS update that takes away fundamental rights you have to use their platform, whereas at Microsoft, they've actually been doing that. One of the forced updates had lock screen ads, and now, your original Windows, which used to be under your control is now just playing ads that you have no control over. Another forced update prevented Windows Pro users from disabling the Windows door on the platform, which these corporations buying Windows Pro thought they had control, you know, their IT departments thought they had control over that aspect of the system, but then Microsoft changed the rules, and that's a really nasty thing, Microsoft giving itself the mandatory power to change the rules on you at any time, and as a user, there's nothing you can do about it. You know, that's wrong. It's that culture that exists within Microsoft. I don't think everybody at Microsoft feels that way, but the culture that's driven by some of their executive leadership believes that it's not your PC, it's their PC, and they can do what they want with it, and they'll do whatever they can get away with. It's constantly figuring out what they can do without users going into open revolt and discovering more and more everyday where that boundary is.
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Actually reading these interviews shows there's a fair bit more thought than "salty" "conspiracy"