Epic Cuts 1,000+ Jobs

Epic Games cut more than 1,000 jobs on March 24 after Chief Executive Tim Sweeney said a downturn in Fortnite engagement that began in 2025 left the company spending “significantly more” than it was making. (epicgames.com) Sweeney said the layoffs came with more than $500 million in planned savings from contracting, marketing, and unfilled roles. Epic said affected workers would get at least four months of base pay, U.S. health coverage for six months, and faster stock-option vesting through January 2027. (epicgames.com) Epic tied the cuts to both company-specific and industry pressures. In the same memo, Sweeney pointed to slower growth, weaker spending, tougher cost economics, lower current-console sales than the last generation, and competition from other forms of entertainment. (epicgames.com) The company also said Fortnite itself had stopped delivering steady momentum. Sweeney wrote that Epic had struggled to produce “consistent Fortnite magic with every season,” even though Fortnite remains one of the world’s biggest games. (epicgames.com) That matters because Fortnite is more than one game inside Epic. It is the company’s main consumer business, a platform for live events and creator-made experiences, and a funnel for tools such as Unreal Editor for Fortnite, which Epic says it wants to keep expanding alongside Unreal Engine 6. (epicgames.com) The layoffs landed two weeks after Epic changed Fortnite’s in-game currency pricing. In a March 10 post, the company said “the cost of running Fortnite has gone up a lot” and reduced the amount of V-Bucks players receive at several price tiers starting March 19, including 800 V-Bucks for $8.99 instead of 1,000. (fortnite.com) TechCrunch reported on March 24 that the price change came just before the job cuts, linking both moves to the same financial squeeze inside Epic. The outlet also reported that Sweeney said the layoffs were not caused by artificial intelligence replacing developers. (techcrunch.com) This was Epic’s second mass layoff in less than three years. In September 2023, the company said it was cutting about 16% of staff, divesting Bandcamp, and spinning off most of SuperAwesome after “spending way more money than we earn.” (epicgames.com) The management shakeup did not end with the layoffs. Kotaku reported on April 16 that Epic confirmed Chief People Officer Monika Fahlbusch’s last day was April 15, and the company declined to say why she was leaving or whether she was fired. (kotaku.com) Sweeney told staff Epic still plans “huge launch plans” toward the end of 2026. For now, the company is trying to cut costs, steady Fortnite, and keep building the tools and content pipeline that its next phase depends on. (epicgames.com)