UPDATE 4.54pm: Epic has confirmed reviews of widespread layoffs on the firm, saying the move will have an result on “round 830 workers”, with roughly two-thirds of those job cuts stated to be in teams “outdoors of core growth”.
Around 250 staff will depart the corporate because of Epic’s newly announced divestiture of Bandcamp and SuperAwesome.
“For a while now,” Epic CEO Tim Sweeney wrote in an all-staff e mail now shared on the company’s website, “we have been spending far more cash than we earn, investing within the next evolution of Epic and growing Fortnite as a metaverse-inspired ecosystem for creators. I had long been optimistic that we may energy through this transition with out layoffs, but on reflection I see that this was unrealistic.
“While Fortnite is beginning to grow again, the growth is driven primarily by creator content with important income sharing, and it is a lower margin business than we had when Fortnite Battle Royale took off and started funding our expansion. Success with the creator ecosystem is a superb achievement, but it means a serious structural change to our economics.”
Sweeney adds that the corporate has been “making ongoing efforts to reduce back prices” globally, including “transferring to internet zero hiring and slicing operating spend on things like advertising and occasions”, however it stays “far in need of monetary sustainability”. Sweeney insists that “doing [layoffs] now and on this scale will stabilise our funds.”
All staff affected by right now’s job cuts will receive six months base pay as part of their severance package deal, alongside six months of Epic-paid healthcare in the US, Canada, and Brazil. “We’re offering to accelerate people’s inventory possibility vesting schedule through the top of 2024 and are giving two further years from at present to train the choices,” Sweeney provides. “In the US we’re also providing to vest any unearned revenue sharing from their 401k. And we’ll present benefits including career transition providers and visa assist the place we will.”
Epic insists no extra layoffs will happen beyond the 830 announced at present, saying “these modifications financially stabilise the business”.
In light of at present’s job cuts, Epic says it’ll prioritise work on the subsequent Fortnite Season and Fortnite Chapter 5, as properly as “Del Mar, Sparks, and Juno” – Del Mar and Juno are rumoured to be the codenames for a Fortnite automobile racing mode and Fortnite Lego collaboration respectively.
An FAQ accompanying Sweeney’s submit says Epic is “continuing to invest in video games with Fortnite first-party improvement, the Fortnite creator ecosystem and economic system, Rocket League and Fall Guys; and services for developers including Unreal Engine for video games and enterprise, Epic Games Store, Epic Games Publishing, Epic Online Services, Kids Web Services, MetaHuman, Twin Motion, Quixel Mega Scans, Capturing Reality, ArtStation, Sketchfab and Fab.”
ORIGINAL STORY 4.20pm: Fornite maker Epic Games is reportedly laying off round 900 workers based on Bloomberg – a quantity said to equate to roughly 16% of it whole workforce.
Citing a “person familiar with the matter”, Bloomberg says employees were knowledgeable of the significant job cuts in a “memo to staff”.
Epic is yet to publicly reply to Bloomberg’s report but Eurogamer has contacted the company for remark and will replace the story as extra information is shared.
Today’s news is obtainable in a year that has seen substantial layoffs throughout the games industry. Microsoft, Take-Two, Riot Games, EA, Twitch, Meta, Unity, Ubisoft, CD Projekt, Roblox, Embracer, Amazon, and Sega – which at present confirmed more potential redundancies following the cancellation of Creative Assembly’s Hyenas – have all announced job cuts in 2023.
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