Video Game Chief Pays $15M for Protection of 7,000 North Carolina Acres

Tim Sweeney, founder of the American video game developing company Epic Games, has paid $15 million of his own money to protect 7,000 acres of wilderness from development.

Though the North Carolina land is still under private ownership, the easement will ensure that it won’t be harmed by construction or logging in the future.

The Box Creak Wilderness, located near the famed Blue Ridge Mountains, is not the first tract of land that Sweeney has saved. Since 2008, he has bought over 40,000 acres of North Carolina forestry.

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“I’m grateful for the efforts of Senator Richard Burr to help protect Box Creek Wilderness,” Sweeney said in a statement, referring to the Republican senior senator in the U.S. Congress. “And I’m grateful for the whole Fish and Wildlife Service team’s tireless efforts to preserve vital North Carolina natural areas in partnership with conservation-minded landowners like me.”

Epic Games, based in Cary, North Carolina, is responsible for such hit games as Gears of War and Infinity Blades. 

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