In light of the recent massive lay-offs hitting Epic Games, affecting more than 1,000 employees due to a downturn in Fortnite, those still working at the company have offered their own thoughts on the event. Among those affected by the lay-offs include Fortnite design director Christopher Pope, principle engineer Evan Kinney, and lead writer Nik Blahunka, who confirmed this through social media posts.
Gameplay producer Robby Williams described the event as “a brutal day at Epic,” noting that “what comes next is very hard and painful” for those affected by the lay-offs. On the subject of now having to make do with a team that is now smaller by around 1,000 developers, he said that the crew will have to “pick up the pieces and try to keep moving forward.
“Our teams will have to pick up the pieces and try to keep moving forward,” wrote Williams on social media, “but we cannot even fully understand what kind of impacts this will have on the game for the rest of the year and likely beyond.”
“I’ll continue to do my best to keep making the best game for you,” he continued, “and I’m confident that my peers feel the same, but please be patient with us as we navigate this tough time and do our best in spite of these truly gut-wrenching losses.”
In announcing the lay-offs, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeny said that the company was “spending significantly more than we’re making, and we have to make major cuts to keep the company funded. This layoff, together with over $500 million of identified cost savings in contracting, marketing, and closing some open roles, puts us in a more stable place.”
As for the future of Fortnite, Sweeny said that the company will have to focus on offering players “awesome Fortnite experiences with fresh seasonal content, gameplay, story, and live events.” He also said that Epic Games has to work on its developer tools “with greater stability and capability as we evolve from Unreal Engine 5 and UEFN to Unreal Engine 6. And we’ll be kicking off the next generation of Epic with huge launch plans towards the end of the year.”
The lay-offs were far from the only things coming about at Epic Games in light of Fortnite seeing a downturn. The company is also shutting down three popular game modes available in Fortnite: Rocket Racing, Ballistic, and Festival Battle Stage. The modes will be shut down in a staggered manner, with Ballistic and Festival Battle Stage being on their way out in April, and Rocket Racing remaining live until October 2026.
“We’ve built a lot of Fortnite modes, and in some cases, we failed to build something awesome enough to attract and retain a large player base,” said Epic Games when it announced these shut downs. “We are going to shut these modes down on the schedules outlined below – we’re grateful for everyone who played.”
What the future holds for Fortnite might seem murky for now. However, Epic Games likely has plans already in place. The company’s partnerships with others might also play a role, like the deal it had signed with Unity to bring in the latter’s game engine capabilities into Fortnite.