Fortnite and Unreal Engine developer Epic reportedly laying off 900 people
Fortnite and Unreal Engine developer Epic Games is reportedly laying off 16% of its total staff.
Earlier today, September 28, Bloomberg first reported that Epic is laying off roughly 900 developers as part of sweeping redundancies. According to the outlet, this will make roughly 16% of the developer's total work force redundant.
This morning, rumors were flying as Epic disabled Slack for employees ahead of the news. Laid-off Epic employees will receive six months severance and health benefits. All-hands meeting happening shortly. Story being updated as I learn more: https://t.co/BK1oVRgCbaSeptember 28, 2023
"The job cuts were announced in a memo to staff, said the person, who asked not to be named disclosing information that’s not yet public," reads the Bloomberg report. At the time of writing, Epic Games has yet to make a public acknowledgement or announcement of the redundancies.
As Bloomberg points out, Epic Games is one of the biggest privately held video game developers in the world. CEO Tim Sweeney owns the majority of the company, while Chinese gaming conglomerate Tencent owns 40% of the developer.
A follow-up report indicates Epic is also selling off some of its properties, with Bandcamp going to another company and marketing arm SuperAwesome becoming independently operated.
The Epic layoffs follow the news that Sega is canceling Hyenas, it's in-development shooter from Total War studio Creative Assembly. Accompanying the cancellation are reported layoffs at the studio, which came as a huge shock to many considering Hyenas was demoed at Gamescom 2023 just last month.
The redundancies fall on the day Epic announced it would be increasing the price of Fortnite's V-Bucks currency in several territories around the
Read more on gamesradar.com
