Epic Games To Cut More Than 1,000 Jobs As Fortnite Usage Falls (reuters.com)
- Reference: 0181096768
- News link: https://games.slashdot.org/story/26/03/24/1628213/epic-games-to-cut-more-than-1000-jobs-as-fortnite-usage-falls
- Source link: https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/epic-games-said-tuesday-that-it-will-lay-off-more-than-1000-employees-2026-03-24/
> The cuts, along with more than $500 million in savings from lower contracting and marketing spending and unfilled roles would put the company in "a more stable place," Sweeney said in a note to employees. [...]
>
> "We've had challenges delivering consistent Fortnite magic," Sweeney said, adding "market conditions today are the most extreme" since the early days of the company founded in 1991.
>
> The move marks Epic's second major round of layoffs in three years. In September 2023, the company cut about 830 jobs, or roughly 16% of its workforce. It was not immediately clear what percentage of staff would be impacted by Tuesday's announcement.
[1] https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/epic-games-said-tuesday-that-it-will-lay-off-more-than-1000-employees-2026-03-24/
quod erat demolitions (Score:2)
Tim Sweeny is reportedly a big advocate for the value of generative AI in developing games. I think it'd be fair to say he's one of those AI inevitablists.
But money is fungible. If you earn or save a bunch of money through behavior A, then you might not be required to make a sacrifice in order to save or earn that money though behavior B.
So if Sweeny says that the layoffs aren't AI-related, he's either lying or he's admitting that AI isn't helping the company's bottom line after all.
Re: quod erat demolitions (Score:2)
But be honest, if AI can generate just as good content and in MUCH shorter time compared to a human, based on what the game designer wants, why should you keep the human for creating the models/art/maps? That would be a bad business decision.
We've had enough hero shooters (Score:1)
It's time for a new Unreal Tournament. You know, one with actual teeth.
Re: (Score:2)
The last one didn't do very well for them.
Re: (Score:2)
You mean Unreal Tournament 3? That was 19 years ago, and it sold well and got good reviews.
Re: (Score:2)
I remember playing Unreal Tournament 2004 a ton. I loved all the different difficulty levels to keep it challenging or if you just wanted to be a badass you could set it lower. Lots of different levels, including a really awesome single player mode that took you through different map settings (CTF, Domination, timed match with goals).
I even still have the box it came in and the CDs for install and playing, though I'm not sure if I still have the hack to play without the CD now. I remember buying it specific
Re: (Score:2)
> You mean Unreal Tournament 3? That was 19 years ago, and it sold well and got good reviews.
No, [1]Unreal Tournament (2014) [wikipedia.org].
It's pretty depressing what happened, actually, because on paper, it was awesome. The base game was free, and it even had a new game mode called Blitz. The amount of maps it shipped with was pretty meager, but the goal was to have modders sell their maps/mods/skins/etc as IAPs within the game and then they got a cut. The game still allowed for private/dedicated servers, and while it lacked some of the polish of UT3, the framework was there and it really worked well as a de facto
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unreal_Tournament_(cancelled_video_game)
Oh no! (Score:2)
Anyway⦠Tim Sweeney has ensured his golden parachute so all is good.
Re: (Score:3)
If he didn't exist those people wouldn't have had those jobs to begin with. He did create the company and Unreal Engine after all.
Re: (Score:1)
Right. Developers are free-loaders.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm not saying that, but has he given any indication he's about to bail with a golden parachute? He isn't some bean counter that just swooped in a couple years ago, trashed the company, and bails.
Re: (Score:2)
Sweeny owns 41% of Epic Games and is third wealthiest person North Carolina. He doesn't need a golden parachute.
Re: (Score:2)
Money: the more you have, the more you need.
Jazz Time (Score:3)
Fortnite is their flagship title? More like their only title.
Time to bring back Jazz Jackrabbit!
Re: (Score:2)
I hate you. I had such fond memories of Jazz Jackrabbit right until you pointed out that it was developed by these shitbags. To be fair they weren't shitbags at the time though.
But yeah they have more than one title. They bought Rocket Racing (and then proceeded to abandon Linux despite it being one of the few Linux platform titles.
But man nostalgia. We recently downloaded Unreal Tournament 2004 at a LAN party and had a hell of a fun time. Also I have fond memories of the early Gears of War titles.
Boohoo. Cry me a river. (Score:2)
How many billions did that game make them? Seriously, this just be one of the highest grossing videogames ever, no? How long has it been going? 9 years? That's pretty epic if you ask me. This game was nothing other than an epic success (no pun intended).
Fortnite my ass. (Score:2)
I find it hard to believe that there were over 1,000 people working on Fortnite to fire. The game has been around for almost a decade, the visuals have the detail of a Dreamcast game, and the sound is nothing to write home about. It does not take 1,000 people to poop out the mediocre advertising that makes up much of the new content in Fortnite. Something else is wrong at Epic and I think that it probably has something to do with the continuing unpopularity of the Epic Games Store.
Justice at last (Score:1)
I remember when Epic hit it big with Fortnite. I remember Epic going to war with Steam and how they went about that. It's been years. Hope it sinks.
Maybe they'll recognize that it is time to invest (Score:2)
Having played Fortnite since shortly after it came out, mostly as a way to keep in touch with my nephews and nieces, the game has been in decline for quite a while. They made a number of cutbacks over the years and added a bunch of new subscriptions, and than raised the cost of everything. Just as an example, Fortnite used to end every chapter with an event. Millions of people would log on, and watch what was essentially the epilogue of that season and the trailer for the next. They gradually cut back and m
Not especially surprising (Score:3)
Epic's been coasting on Fortnite and Unreal Engine money.
The Epic Game Store is a joke and loses them money, between giving away games, courting publishers over players, and not even trying to compete with other storefronts (Steam is feature rich, GOG is DRM-free). Paying for exclusives, even though usually timed, also costs money and doesn't really sit well with a lot of gamers.
It also costs money to fight companies like Google and Valve, to make it to where in-game transactions aren't charged the same cut that Google and Valve's storefronts have.
It sounds like the quality of Fortnite has dwindled, and the costs for skins has gone up.
It doesn't help that it's run by Tim Sweeney. He's a bit of an asshole and isn't really anyone that should be speaking for the company.
Here's an idea (Score:2)
You're a game studio. Make a new game. I know what you're saying, it's too early! Fortunately JUST came out in 2017. That was like yesterday!
Re: (Score:1)
Fortnight***
Re: (Score:1)
Fortnite. Damn you mobile autocorrect.
Re: (Score:1)
Fortnight is 2 weeks in your freedom units.
'Murican Units. (Score:2)
> What's the metric week?
Epic Games measures their success in Red-blooded Bald Eagle units, spank you very much.
Currently this is tracking at 3.42 GTA6 eons, or approximately 2.469 Duke Nukem forevers. Per the Are-You-Not-Entertained rules when consumers are forced to wait longer than Moores Law for any reasonable sequel.