Fortnite developer Epic Video games has introduced it should lay off 1,000 employees members as a result of “low engagement” within the evergreen battle royale recreation.
In a message to employees revealed this morning, Epic Video games president Tim Sweeney stated the corporate was “considerably outpacing income,” that means it needed to make “vital cuts to maintain the corporate afloat.”
The information comes only one week after the launch of Fortnite’s long-awaited new battle royale season, and two weeks after the corporate controversially elevated the value of the sport’s profitable in-game forex, V-Bucks, sparking a significant backlash from gamers.
“At the moment, we’re shedding greater than 1,000 Epic staff,” Sweeney informed Epic Video games staff. “Sorry to be right here once more. The downturn in Fortnite engagement that started in 2025 means we’re spending excess of we make, and we should make vital cuts to maintain the corporate afloat.” At the moment’s job cuts embody “over $500 million in confirmed value financial savings” in contracting and advertising and marketing, however hiring for some positions can be halted, he continued.
“A few of the challenges we face are industry-wide,” Sweeney wrote, blaming “slower progress, weaker spending, and harder value economics.” Sweeney mentioned this final level in additional element, noting that present gaming consoles aren’t promoting in addition to earlier generations, and that gaming is more and more competing with different types of leisure for time.
“And a few of our challenges are distinctive to Epic,” he continued. “Regardless of Fortnite being one of the crucial profitable video games on this planet, we have confronted the problem of constantly delivering the magic of Fortnite season after season. We’re solely within the early levels of returning to cellular and optimizing Fortnite for the world’s billions of smartphones. And as pioneers within the {industry}, we have taken many bullets within the struggle, but it surely’s solely the early levels of rewarding ourselves and all of our builders.”
Initially launched in 2017 as a easy PVE zombie shooter, Fortnite exploded in recognition after the success of PUBG led the developer to shortly launch a battle royale part. Within the years that adopted, Fortnite capitalized on its success to turn out to be a popular culture phenomenon, internet hosting record-breaking dwell occasions and concert events, and even making crossovers with the world’s largest leisure sequence.
Fortnite is at the moment a platform the place battle royale is only one of many gameplay modes, however its success pales compared to Roblox’s large participant base. In the meantime, Epic’s personal efforts to develop Fortnite past its shooter origins met a blended destiny. The corporate’s massive bang reboot in December 2023, which launched Lego, racing, and music modes, did not develop the sport’s participant base as a lot as anticipated, and subsequent launches (together with an upcoming aggressive enviornment possibility) have moved nearer to Fortnite’s shooter origins.
In one other announcement right this moment, Epic Video games introduced that the Pythonix-powered Rocket Racing mode can be completely offline later this yr after beforehand being saved. In the meantime, the opposite two modes are scheduled to be phased out subsequent month. One is the extra aggressive “Competition Battle Stage” with the primary Harmonix music providing, and the opposite is “Fortnite Ballistic” which is an try and create a tactical shooter.
At the moment’s layoffs embody some high-profile, long-time Fortnite staff members, together with lead engineer Evan Kinney. Evan Kinney posted his response on social media, saying he was “baffled and embarrassed” to have been “kicked out” after years of engaged on the sport and its in style dwell occasions.
I’ve finished lots for this firm and the sport
lots late at evening
there are lots of weekends
So many dwell occasions, aggressive occasions, new options, and new seasonsAssured efficiency critiques each time
A number of folks have talked about how important I’m and the way a lot it impacts me…β Evanosaurus βUnrawrl Engine 5.7β Rex (@evankinney) March 24, 2026
“Our job now could be clear,” Sweeney continued in a message to employees, telling them they should “construct an important Fortnite expertise with contemporary seasonal content material, gameplay, story, and dwell occasions, and speed up developer instruments with higher stability and performance as we evolve from Unreal Engine 5 and UEFN to Unreal Engine 6.” And we’re launching the following technology of Epic with an enormous launch plan in direction of the top of the yr.
“This is not the primary time we have been right here,” he continued. βEpic survived the tumultuous Nineteen Nineties once we went from 2D to 3D with Unreal 1, constructed console video games within the 2000s with Gears of Conflict, and moved on-line with Paragon and Fortnite in 2012. Every time, we rebuilt our basis and emerged as a brand new chief.
“At the moment’s market circumstances are probably the most excessive we have seen since our early days, and main upheavals within the {industry} include nice alternatives for the businesses that emerge victorious on the opposite aspect. That is what we intention to do for our gamers, and we intention to deliver different like-minded builders within the {industry} on a journey to construct collectively an more and more open and vibrant way forward for leisure.”
On the subject of AI, Sweeney particularly famous that the elevated prominence of AI in recreation improvement isn’t an element right here. “The layoffs don’t have anything to do with AI,” he identified. βWe would like as many nice builders as doable to create nice content material and expertise, so long as it improves productiveness.β
Sweeney concluded his message by calling the layoffs “extraordinarily painful,” and stated affected employees would obtain a minimum of 4 months of base pay and well being advantages, in addition to advance inventory choices. The final time Epic Video games had main layoffs was in 2023, when 830 staffers had been made redundant, or about 16% of the corporate’s workforce on the time. The corporate is then thought to make use of simply over 4,000 folks, suggesting right this moment’s mass layoffs affected virtually 1 / 4 of the corporate.
Tom Phillips is videogameaddicted’s information editor. You’ll be able to contact Tom at tom_phillips@videogameaddicted.com or discover him on Bluesky. @tomphillipseg.bsky.social