Layoffs link to store underperformance
Some posts tie Epic’s job cuts to the company’s broader efforts to diversify revenue — including its mobile and store bets — saying those initiatives underperformed and pressured headcount ( ).
Epic Games’ layoffs have been tied to a simple problem: the company spent years funding expansion bets that did not turn into enough new revenue. (epicgames.com) In a March 24, 2026 memo, Chief Executive Tim Sweeney said Epic was cutting more than 1,000 jobs and had identified more than $500 million in savings after a 2025 drop in Fortnite engagement. Epic said the cuts left it with 4,000 employees, making the layoff about 20% of staff. (epicgames.com) (abcnews.go.com) That followed an earlier September 28, 2023 round in which Epic cut about 830 employees, or roughly 16% of its workforce, while divesting Bandcamp and spinning off most of SuperAwesome. In that memo, Sweeney said Epic had been “spending way more money than we earn.” (epicgames.com) The store and mobile push sit inside that larger spending story. Epic spent heavily to build the Epic Games Store into a rival to Valve’s Steam and to get Fortnite and its store back onto phones after its fight with Apple and Google. (ign.com) Sweeney said in August 2024 that many Epic Games Store exclusivity deals “were not good investments,” even as he said the free-games program worked better for attracting users. Epic’s own 2024 year-in-review later showed third-party spending through Epic Payments fell 18% year over year to $255 million. (gamesindustry.biz) (store.epicgames.com) Posts linking layoffs to store underperformance draw on that gap between user growth and store economics. Kotaku reported this week that two former employees said many players claimed free games on Epic and then returned to Steam. (kotaku.com) Mobile has been costly too. Sweeney said in January 2025 that Epic had spent billions fighting Apple and Google, and IGN reported that Epic launched its mobile store on iPhone in the European Union and on Android worldwide in August 2024. (ign.com) Epic has not said the 2026 layoffs were caused specifically by the store. In the March 2026 memo, Sweeney pointed instead to weaker spending, slower growth, lower console sales, Fortnite’s uneven seasons, and the fact that Epic was still in the early stages of returning to mobile. (epicgames.com) That leaves the store and mobile bets as part of a broader pattern, not a standalone explanation. Epic’s own memos describe a company trying to pay for Fortnite, Unreal Engine, creator tools, mobile distribution, and the store at the same time while revenue and margins tightened. (epicgames.com 1) (epicgames.com 2)
