Epic Video games cuts 16% of its workforce
Epic Video games will lay off round 830 staff, or 16% of jobs on the firm. The Fortnite maker says it has no plans for additional cuts and cites slimmer margins from its shared income as a part of the choice.
The report first got here from Bloomberg News reporter Jason Schreier, who mentioned Epic Video games would lay off staff. Bloomberg’s supply mentioned the announcement got here from Epic Video games by means of an inner memo. Schreier’s follow-up put up said Epic reduce Slack entry to affected staff forward of the information breaking internally.
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Epic Video games has since confirmed its sweeping layoffs. In an official statement, Epic shared CEO Tim Sweeney’s electronic mail to staff asserting layoffs for round 16% of its workforce. It is going to additionally divest in Bandcamp, which it acquired in 2022, and most of SuperAwesome. It estimates round 250 jobs from these layoffs are cuts from each corporations.
“For some time now, we’ve been spending far more cash than we earn, investing within the subsequent evolution of Epic and rising Fortnite as a metaverse-inspired ecosystem for creators,” wrote Sweeney in his electronic mail to Epic staff. “I had lengthy been optimistic that we may energy by means of this transition with out layoffs, however looking back I see that this was unrealistic.”
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The Fortnite maker will provide six months base pay and healthcare for workers within the US, Canada, and Brazil. In its FAQ relating to layoffs, Epic additionally claims there won’t be extra layoffs and that it continues to rent for “crucial roles, whereas sustaining a net-zero at our [Epic Games] new measurement.” Epic plans to carry a follow-up firm assembly later in October to debate its new course.
The corporate cites working at decrease margins as a cause for the cuts, and whereas it claims “Fortnite is beginning to develop once more,” that progress is “pushed primarily by creator content material with vital income sharing.”
Epic Video games joins different business giants in a spree of mass video games business layoffs. Simply inside the final yr, Embracer Group introduced its restructuring plan, which led to cuts on the Tomb Raider studio, Crystal Dynamics. BioWare additionally eradicated “roughly 50 roles” in latest layoffs, whereas Firaxis Video games used the identical ‘trimming up’ reasoning to chop some 30 jobs.
Destructoid reached out to Epic Video games for remark however didn’t obtain an instantaneous reply.
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Extra Tales by Andrea Shearon
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