Epic Games lays off 830 staff, citing ‘unrealistic’ metaverse ambitions

1 year ago

“Spending mode much than we earn” — CEO Tim Sweeney blamed occupation cuts connected large structural changes to the company’s economics.

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Epic Games lays disconnected  830 staff, citing ‘unrealistic’ metaverse ambitions

Epic Games, the institution down Fortnite, has slashed 16% of its workforce — astir 830 unit — aft unrealistic expectations of metaverse-inspired gross caused it to walk “way more” wealth than it had been earning.

“We concluded that layoffs are the lone mode and that doing them present and connected this standard volition stabilize our finances,” wrote CEO Tim Sweeney successful a Sept. 29 memo sent to Epic Games staff.

“I had agelong been optimistic that we could powerfulness done this modulation without layoffs, but successful retrospect, I spot that this was unrealistic,” Sweeney added.

Epic Games person laid disconnected 870 employees contiguous crossed aggregate departments, a whopping 16% of their workforce. Those laid disconnected volition person 6 months severance

"For awhile now, we've been spending mode much wealth than we earn, investing successful the adjacent improvement of Epic and Fortnite" pic.twitter.com/4W6Pn31CU3

— Jake Lucky (@JakeSucky) September 28, 2023

While Sweeney credited the company’s caller maturation to the Fortnite Creator program, which allows players to physique and merchantability their ain contented in-game for a 40% cut, the displacement has resulted successful little margins.

“Success with the creator ecosystem is simply a large achievement, but it means a large structural alteration to our economics.”

Related: Play-to-earn games are the crushed ‘real’ gamers hatred crypto: Atari founder

In summation to the aforementioned layoffs, Sweeney said different 250 employees would besides beryllium leaving Epic Games, arsenic the institution announced it would beryllium selling the precocious acquired euphony website Bandcamp and spinning disconnected its selling institution SuperAwesome, a child-safety tech steadfast that joined Epic successful 2020.

Notably, soon-to-be-former employees of Epic Games volition beryllium offered six months of pay, and those residing successful the United States, Canada and Brazil tin expect six months of paid healthcare arsenic well.

Aside from Fortnite, which boasts immoderate 400 cardinal registered users, Epic Games besides runs the Unreal Engine. The video crippled improvement suite powers titles specified arsenic God of War and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds.

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