Tim Sweeney, the creator of the popular online video game Fortnite, has captivated people's attention for decades, thanks to his interactive and intricated digital worlds inside his games. But the work that he's recently been doing away from screens and devices has also captured people's attention, and not just the ones who are gamers.
Sweeney is known for establishing the 3d software and the video company named Epic Games during the 1990s. And his company, Epic Games has made some very popular video games, such as Gears of War, Unreal Tournament, and the most recent, very popular addition, Fortnite. But in addition to all of these popular games, this billionaire philanthropist has stuck by, and fulfilled his promise of protecting the bio-diverse undeveloped land across the western Carolina mountains, for the future generations and for the good of our planet in general.
Ever since 2008, Sweeney has been spending millions of dollars on various conservation projects within his home state of North Carolina, so that he could preserve and protect all of the forest lands. So far, he has bought almost 40,000 acres just in the past decade. This has made him one of the largest private landowners in the entire state of North Carolina. The Epic Games owner has also donated money to various conservation parcel project, which includes a 1,500-acre expansion to Mount Mitchell State Park.
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Back in November 2016, he donated $15 million for a conservation easement which would protect 7,000 acres of The Box Creek Wilderness. This forest, which is located in the lower parts of the Blue Ridge Mountains, has been targeted by a certain company that wanted to take up the land and carve out the mountain so that it could run some power lines through it. However, thanks to Sweeney's purchase, he managed to protect hundreds of various endangered animal as well as plant species. According to some biologists and ecologists, this particular area has over 130 rare wildlife species. It is one of the most diverse, in terms of wildlife, areas in all of North Carolina. And according to Sweeney, his plan is to connect South Mountains State Park to Chimney Rock, so this helps in that goal.
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He has also purchased plenty of other pieces of land, including 193 acres in Alamance County and 1,500-acre parcel of land which is known as Stone Hills and was considered for development as a golf resort.