Epic Games Lays Off Over 1,000 Fortnite Employees Sparking Concern Within the Gaming Industry

On Wednesday, March 24th, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney posted a statement on the Epic Games website, announcing their decision to lay off over 1,000 employees at the game developer company. It’s reportedly the largest mass layoff session the gaming industry has ever experienced, which has shocked not just fans, but the employees who’ve been affected by the layoffs. The layoffs have affected many veteran developers who’ve been working on Fortnite and for Epic Games for years, an unfortunate situation all around.

Analysts have claimed that the layoffs were inevitable, given the loss of player interest in playing Fortnite, which, to this date, is still Epic Games’ largest and most profitable game so far. The loss of interest in the game consequently caused the company to cut costs once again, similar to Epic Games’ mass layoffs a few years ago, in which the game developer company let go of over 800 employees.

A Message From CEO Tim Sweeney

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney announced the news of the layoffs on the Epic Games website, highlighting the loss in revenue the company has experienced and its decision to downsize by letting go of many employees, including many veteran game developers. In addition to the layoffs, the severance package for the employees who’ve been let go has also been announced. Employees recieved:

• Four months of base pay.
• More salary based on the tenure of service. 
• Extended Epic-paid health coverage, 6 months in the US.
• Accelerated stock options vesting through Jan 2027 and extend equity exercise options for up to two years.

Here’s an excerpt from the announcement, which you can find the full statement here:

Today we’re laying off over 1000 Epic employees. I’m sorry we’re here again. The downturn in Fortnite engagement that started in 2025 means we’re 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.

Some of the challenges we’re facing are industry-wide challenges: slower growth, weaker spending, and tougher cost economics; current consoles selling less than last generation’s; and games competing for time against other increasingly-engaging forms of entertainment.

And some of our challenges are unique to Epic. Despite Fortnite remaining one of the most successful games in the world, we’ve had challenges delivering consistent Fortnite magic with every season; we’re only in the early stages of returning to mobile and optimizing Fortnite for the world’s billions of smartphones; and in being the industry’s vanguard we have taken a lot of bullets in a battle which is only in the early days of paying off for ourselves and all developers.

Reaction From Former Employee

Some veteran game developers who worked for Epic Games and on Fortnite have taken to social media to express their shock and disappointment at the situation. Veteran developer Evan Kinney shared his thoughts on the situation on his LinkedIn profile, and here’s what he had to say:

i’m still kind of shell-shocked and trying to figure everything out, but for some reason i was included in the layoffs at epic today. been there almost 9 years.

i’ve shipped so many integral systems for fortnite/the engine itself and was constantly counted by leadership and my peers among the people most impactful to the success of our games. i’ve been there since the beginning. to say i’m confused is an understatement.

gonna take some time to gather myself and process everything. no idea what’s next for me yet. if you’re doing cool stuff and could use a jack-of-all-trades principal (or lead) engineer to help you do more cool stuff, let me know! open to both games industry roles as well as things outside of it.