Epic Gomes announced that more than 1,000 people would be laid off as a result of “the decline in the participation of Fort Night’s players, which led to a shortfall in company income”. In an aide-mémoire to employees, Chief Executive Officer Epic Tim Sweeney stated that Epic needed “a substantial reduction in staff to sustain the company’s funds”.
Sweeney wrote: “This reduction, together with the cost savings of over $500 million identified in contracts, marketing and the closure of some of the vacant posts, will make the company more stable.” He clarified that retrenchment was “not related to AI” and added that “as long as AI is able to increase productivity, we want to have as many good developers as possible to develop high-quality content and advanced technology”. Sweeney also attributed this decision to the challenges faced by the industry, such as slower growth, weak consumption, rising costs and the fact that current mainframe sales were lower than those of the previous generation. “Today’s market conditions are the most extreme we have seen since the early days, and the industry is experiencing great upheavals, as well as opening great opportunities for those companies that eventually become winners.”
Sweeney said: “In Epic, we are proud to hire only the best in the industry, and it is painful to be separated from so many talented people. Staff affected by redundancy will receive severance pay, including at least four months of basic salary, which will be increased on the basis of length of service. We will also extend the medical benefits paid by Epic.” American employees will receive six months’ paid medical benefits. Equity options will also accelerate until January 2027, with a maximum of two years of exercise. Epic ‘ s last large-scale lay-off was in September 2023, when it was over 800, representing about 16 per cent of the company ‘ s total. Two thirds of the affected staff are from teams “other than core development”. At that time, Epic had moved to net zero recruitment and reduced marketing and activity costs, “but ultimately financial sustainability is far from being achieved”.
The sugar-beans developer Mediatonic and 250 employees involved in the sale of the music store Bandcamp were also affected by the retrenchment. Last week, Epic announced that he would raise the price of the money in the game to “help to pay the bill,” saying, “The cost of operating Fort Night has risen dramatically.”