After Laying Off 830 Employees, Tim Sweeney Says Fortnite Maker Epic Is Now ‘Financially Sound’
Epic Games boss Tim Sweeney has insisted the company is now “financially sound” after a tumultuous period in which 830 staff were laid off.
In September 2023, the North Carolina studio behind Fortnite and Unreal Engine suffered a significant round of layoffs that saw 830 employees, about 16% of its workforce, lose their jobs.
Separately, Epic divested music service platform Bandcamp and spun off most of SuperAwesome, a kid-safe technology company. These were acquired by Epic Games in 2022 and 2020, respectively. Around 250 people left Epic through the divestitures.
At the time, Sweeney said Epic had been spending “way more money than we earn, investing in the next evolution of Epic and growing Fortnite as a metaverse-inspired ecosystem for creators.”
He also pointed to a “major structural change to our economics” after Fortnite growth transitioned from the explosively popular and highly profitable battle royale that funded its initial expansion, to the lower margin business that came from creator content with significant revenue sharing.
Now, a year later, Sweeney has commented on the state of Epic Games, and he certainly sounded more bullish. Speaking during a presentation at Unreal Fest 2024, as reported by GI.biz, Sweeney said that Epic “spent the last year rebuilding and really executing solidly on all fronts.”
He added: "I'm happy to tell you now that the company is financially sound, and that Fortnite and the Epic Games Store have hit new records in concurrency and success."
On that front, Fortnite hit 110 million monthly active users over the holidays, an impressive milestone for a game now seven years old. To put that into context, in August 2018 Fortnite hit 78.3 million MAUs.
Epic rarely makes Fortnite player numbers public, and when it does so it uses various metrics that make direct comparisons difficult. Last year's Season OG, which brought back the Chapter 1 Season 5 map and with it classic areas like Tilted Towers, Pleasant Park, and Risky Reels, saw Fortnite
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