Today, Epic Games announced a massive layoff at the studio. In a note to the company, the CEO Tim Sweeney wrote:
“Today we are laying off over 1,000 Epic employees. I’m sorry we’re here again. The drop in Fortnite engagement that started in 2025 It means we are spending much more than we earn and have to make significant cuts to keep the company funded. “This layoff, along with more than $500 million in cost savings identified in hiring, marketing and closing some vacant positions, puts us in a more stable position.”
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Continuing the statement, “Some of the challenges we face are industry-wide challenges: slower growth, weaker spending and tighter cost economics; current consoles selling less than those of the last generation; and games competing for time against other increasingly attractive forms of entertainment.”
“And some of our challenges are exclusive to Epic. Although fortnite Being one of the most successful games in the world, we have had challenges delivering the magic of Fortnite consistently every season; “We’re just in the early stages of returning to mobile and optimizing Fortnite for the world’s billions of smartphones, and being at the forefront of the industry, we’ve taken a lot of bullets in a battle that’s only in the early days of bearing fruit for us and all developers.”
Years ago, Tim Sweeney mentioned that they had potentially lost a billion dollars due to Fortnite no longer being in the iOS App Store. Definitely a hole in the pocket even for one of the biggest game developers in the world.
BallisticRocket-Racing and Festival Battle Stage are also closing as part of cost-saving measures. With fewer employees, there will be fewer resources available to cover modes, and leaving less popular entities is a decision, sad as it may be, that Epic is forced to make.
These modes will be available until April 16. So if they’re listed as some of your favorites, now’s the time to try them one last time before they end next month.
Epic also mentioned AI was No be to blame though Tim Sweeney has gone on record that AI would come to all games: “Since it already exists, I should point out that the layoffs are not related to AI. As productivity improves, we want to have as many amazing developers developing great content and technology as we can.”
At least employees will have some coverage, as many will receive severance packages of at least four months and will be paid six months of health coverage for affected employees in the United States. We hope for a quick and smooth recovery for those affected by today’s news.
What do you think of today’s news? Let us know your opinion in the comments below. My deepest condolences to all those affected.
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