Tim Sweeney (born in 1970) is an American computer game programmer and the founder of Epic Games, being best known for his work on ZZT and the Unreal Engine.Sweeney established Epic as a shareware company while he was a student majoring in mechanical engineering at the University of Maryland. He said that he had been interested in game development and computer programming since he was 10 years old, and finally started making games out of his parents' basement where he lived.