Epic Games cuts staff by 16% in push for profitability

"For a while now, we've been spending way more money than we earn". This is the rationale Tim Sweeney has unveiled for cost-cutting measures that has seen 870 individuals lose their positions at Epic Games. The firm's CEO asserts that the company needs to claw its way back to profitability by such means in order to achieve ends such as "growing Fortnite as a metaverse-inspired ecosystem for creators".

On that note, the flagship title has been estimated to bring in billions of dollars per year - however, according to Sweeney, it is currently sustained by "creator content with significant revenue sharing, a lower margin business than we had when Fortnite Battle Royale took off and began funding our expansion".

Epic Games claims it has also been obliged to undo the acquisition of Bandcamp, although it can afford to half a year's worth of "base pay" per each new ex-employee, many of whom will also retain their corporate health coverage for the same 6 months.

The company indicates that the team members affected are far from core developers; all the same, they may help prevent mistakes such as the re-release of the "Share the Wealth" emote to Fortnite's Item Store on the same day as the lay-offs were announced.

Meanwhile, alternative games such as Fall Guys are said to be profoundly affected by the lay-offs, while the company's advertising division SuperAwesome will become an independent entity going forward.