Epic Games Confirms More Than 1,000 Staff Are Being Laid Off Partly Due To A ‘Downturn In Fortnite Engagement’

Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, has announced today that the Fortnite creator is laying off more than 1,000 staff members, as well as confirming the shutdown of Rocket Racing, Ballistic, and Festival Battle Stage modes for the battle royale title.

Speaking in a note to staff today, the executive partially blamed a downturn in Fortnite engagement for the job losses, despite it remaining “one of the most successful games in the world.” However, Sweeney note that engagement has remained inconsistent between seasons.

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.

Those who have lost their jobs will receive a severance packaged “that includes at least four months of base pay, with more based on tenure,” he added.

Some of the challenges we’re facing are industry-wide challenges – slower growth, weaker spending, and tougher cost economics, current consoles selling less than last generation’s, and games competing for time against other increasingly-engaging forms of entertainment.

And some of our challenges are unique to Epic. Despite Fortnite remaining one of the most successful games in the world, we’ve had challenges delivering consistent Fortnite magic with every season; we’re only in the early stages of returning to mobile and optimizing Fortnite for the world’s billions of smartphones; and in being the industry’s vanguard we have taken a lot of bullets in a battle which is only in the early days of paying off for ourselves and all developers.

The layoffs come just a few weeks after Epic Games announced that it was increasing the price of Fortnite V-Bucks, which came into effect on March 19. This isn’t the first time that V-Bucks have increased in price, as back in September 2023 Epic Games revealed that it was bumping up the price alongside confirming nearly 900 people had lost their jobs at the company. This amounted to around 16% of its workforce at the time.

[Source – VGC, Fortnite Status on X]