Epic Games lays off 1,000 employees while trying to stay afloat

Although Epic Games means much more than Fortnite, it seems that any drop in this flagship product's engagement sends shockwaves through the entire company. Right now, the American company has over 4,000 employees and is maintaining the popular Unreal Engine, as well as the Epic Games Store and several games. The list of games published by Epic Games Publishing includes Fall Guys, Alan Wake Remastered, PC Building Simulator 2, End of Abyss, and more. Sadly, what has begun in 2025 is still making things hard for them.

A note sent to Epic employees yesterday reads the following:

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.

The note also mentions the industry-wide challenges such as weaker spending and slower growth, as well as the tougher cost economics. Some Epic-exclusive challenges are also highlighted in the note, such as the challenges delivering attractive Fortnite content with every new season, as well as the early stages of returning to mobile and optimizing for this platform. 

Moreover, the note also mentioned that Epic went through tough times in the 1990s when the move from 2D to 3D took place with Unreal 1, in the 2000s while building console games with Gears of War, and in 2012, when they moved to online gaming with Paragon and Fortnite. Remains to see if they will manage to pull it off one more time. 

In the US, the employees being laid off will get paid healthcare coverage for 6 months, as well as a severance package that includes at least four months of base pay.