
Epic Games has reportedly laid off over 1,000 employees with the blame tied to decreasing player engagement inside its long-running live service game title “Fortnite”.
The news was shared via an internal memo penned by Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney and published on the company’s official site this morning.
Sweeney says the decision came down to various factors including a general downturn in spending on games, increased competition, and a slow start rolling out “Fortnite” on mobile platforms.
Sweeney wrote in the memo that today’s layoffs are intended to put Epic Games in a “more stable place” alongside further cost reductions of over $500 million in areas like hiring, contracting and marketing.
“Fortnite” remains the game with the highest monthly active users across both PlayStation and Xbox consoles, even as the average player count has dropped from its 2023-2024 highs.
The top 10 live service games on PlayStation and Xbox also comprise just shy of half of all U.S. gaming hours on these platforms every month.
Source: Games Beat
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