2023 has sadly been a year that has seen widespread layoffs across the games industry, and another major company has now joined that list. As per a report published by Bloomberg, Epic Games of Fortnite and Unreal Engine fame is laying off 16% of its workforce, which translates to around 830 employees.
As per Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier on Twitter, in an internal email, CEO Tim Sweeney has said that Epic has been “spending way more money than we earn”, and lower than expected profit margins from Fortnite Creator have been a factor. The company is, however, still looking to recruit in open positions, and doesn’t have any further layoffs planned.
Schreier has also reported that alongside this round of layoffs, Epic Games is also divesting two companies it previously acquired- music company Bandcamp, which was acquired last year, and marketer Songtradr, while marketing company SuperAwesome will be spun off to operate as an independent entity.
Earlier this month, it was announced that Donald Mustard would be stepping down from his role as Chief Creative Officer at Epic Games. He is being replaced by God of War and Marvel vet Charlie Wen.
