Mass firings in the video game industry continue to be an unfortunate trend. Epic Games, the company behind Fortnite and Unreal Engine, has faced massive layoffs, cutting down approximately 16% of its workforce, or about 900 people. Initially reported by Bloomberg and then confirmed in an official statement about the layoffs from Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney, the decision comes in from not making enough money to meet the amount spent on investing in the company and Fortnite‘s “metaverse-inspired ecosystem for creators.”
Fortnite Maker Epic Games Layoffs Come Right as V-Bucks Get More Expensive
To cut costs, it is slashing 16% of its workforce, “divesting Bandcamp,” and cutting most of SuperAwesome. Amidst the layoffs at Epic Games, it decided what to do with Bandcamp and SuperAwesome. The music platform will be sold off to Songtradr. SuperAwesome, a company that builds ways to make games safer for children, will remain under the Unreal Engine maker, except its advertising division is now an independent entity.
Hiring fell in an attempt to reduce costs. Still, it led to the approximately 900 people losing their jobs. Those affected will receive six months of pay and health insurance in Canada, the U.S., and Brazil. This will not stumble development on any games or projects from the company.
This is not the only news from the company. On the same day that so many people lose their jobs, it will raise Fortnite‘s in-game currency, V-Bucks, in October. For example, 1,000 V-Bucks will go from $8 to $9. This affects various bundles of V-Bucks, too.
Every few months or sometimes weeks to days, we get news about situations similar to this. Epic Games is not the only one to suffer layoffs this year. Recently, Blizzard let go ten people from its Hearthstone team, and Crystel Dynamics lost a portion of its employees. One of the biggest from earlier this year was Microsoft, which let go of 10,000 people, affecting various sectors of the company, including Xbox.
