Epic Games is reportedly laying off around 900 employees
UPDATE 4.54pm: Epic has confirmed reports of widespread layoffs at the company, saying the move will affect «around 830 employees», with approximately two-thirds of those job cuts said to be in teams «outside of core development».
Around 250 employees will leave the company as a result of Epic's newly announced divestiture of Bandcamp and SuperAwesome.
«For a while now,» Epic CEO Tim Sweeney wrote in an all-staff email now shared on the company's website, «we've 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. I had long been optimistic that we could power through this transition without layoffs, but in retrospect I see that this was unrealistic.
»While Fortnite is starting to grow again, the growth is driven primarily by creator content with significant revenue sharing, and this is a lower margin business than we had when Fortnite Battle Royale took off and began funding our expansion. Success with the creator ecosystem is a great achievement, but it means a major structural change to our economics."
Sweeney adds that the company has been «making ongoing efforts to reduce costs» globally, including «moving to net zero hiring and cutting operating spend on things like marketing and events», but it remains «far short of financial sustainability». Sweeney insists that «doing [layoffs] now and on this scale will stabilise our finances.»
All workers affected by today's job cuts will receive six months base pay as part of their severance package, alongside six months of Epic-paid healthcare in the US, Canada, and Brazil. «We're offering to accelerate people's stock option vesting schedule through the end of 2024 and are
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