Tim Sweeney: Epic to resolve insurance hurdles for terminally ill laid-off dev
Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has publicly addressed the unfortunate situation involving a recently laid-off employee who has been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, leaving Michael Prinke without life insurance coverage. In a turn of events, Tim Sweeney has promised to help Prinke and his family through a public statement on X.
In the post, Sweeney stated that he is now in direct contact with Prinke’s family after his wife, Jenni Griffin, shared a post about his condition that went viral on social media. Sweeney says that he’ll make things right for Prinke and his family.
Once the post went viral, Sweeney swiftly responded, stating that Prinke’s medical condition did not play a role in the layoffs because of strict confidentiality surrounding health information.
He said, “Epic is in contact with the family and will solve the insurance for them. There is high confidentiality around medical information, and it was not a factor in the layoff decision. Sorry to everyone for not recognizing this terribly painful situation and handling it in advance.”
Prinke’s wife, Jenni Griffin, has since updated her original Facebook post and expressed relief. She wrote, “WE ARE IN TALKS NOW WITH THE APPROPRIATE PEOPLE! WILL UPDATE SOON, LIKELY BY TUESDAY.”
For context, Epic Games laid off more than 1,000 employees in 2026 due to a downturn in Fortnite player counts. Explaining that the company was overspending and failing to meet revenue targets, Epic decided to cut jobs to stabilize the business. At the time, Sweeney expressed regret. Among those affected was Prinke, who had worked at Epic Games as a technical writer and programmer for seven years. He worked on documentation and support tools for Unreal Engine, among other projects.
Prinke’s wife, Jenni, took to Facebook to express her frustration over the fact that, because his terminal brain cancer was a pre-existing condition, he could not obtain life insurance elsewhere.
This layoff and the subsequent situation have sparked many debates online about how companies handle workforce reductions and how they affect employees, especially those with serious health conditions. For now, it appears that Tim Sweeney has taken accountability for the situation and has decided to help Michael Prinke and his family.
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