Fortnite is one of the most successful games in the world, but that hasn't stopped Epic Games being affected by the tumultuous nature of the games industry. Today, the company has announced that it's laying off over 1000 employees due to a downturn in engagement.
Bloomberg's Jason Schreier initially broke the news (paywalled), Epic CEO Tim Sweeney shared a statement over on the company's official website. On top of 1,000 employees losing their jobs, the company will also be making over $500 million cost cutting savings.across marketing, contracting, and closing open roles.
Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTube844k
But it seems that Fortnite and Epic have been hit by a "downturn in Fortnite engagement that started in 2025". This comes just two weeks after it announced it would be raising the price of V-Bucks to "help pay the bills".
"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."
Rocket Racing, Ballistic, and Festival Battle Stage modes within Fortnite are all going offline — Rocket Racking from October 2026, and the latter two from 16th April (via Wario64).
Employees affected by the layoffs will be will be offered at least four months of severance, "with more based on tenure". Epic is also extending its healthcare coverage and accelerating stock options vesting.
Sweeney has assured employees in his note that "he layoffs aren't related to AI", and that "To the extent it improves productivity, we want to have as many awesome developers developing great content and tech as we can."
Of course, many of you will remember that Epic was involved in an extremely long lawsuit with Apple and Google over mobile store fees (that's grossly oversimplifying it) — the game was removed from mobile storefronts back in 2020 and has only just recently returned, which Sweeney acknowledges in his statement.
But back in 2025, the CEO told IGN that they had spent "the greater part" of $1 billion a year trying to expand into the mobile market, which of course includes that lawsuit.
Additionally, Circana's Mat Piscatella shared on Bluesky that Fortnite led in monthly active users across both PlayStation and Xbox In February 2026, but that numbers were down year-on-year — 35% of active players on PlayStation spent 16 hours with the game (compared to 21 in 2025), while Xbox players averaged around 15 hours this year (versus 19 hours in 2025).
Back in 2023, the Fortnite creator laid off around 830 employees for similar reasons. But Sweeney says that the market conditions of today "are the most extreme we've seen since [1990's and 2000's]."
Our thoughts go out to those affected, and we hope you land on your feet.
[source epicgames.com, via bloomberg.com]
Comments 19
That poor multibillion dollar company. They really are struggling with that massive game of theirs. They're really struggling to keep the lights on and the money in their pockets, I hope everyone's not too harsh on them...
Say what you want about Nintendo but I have yet to see any mass layoffs from them
The corporate world at its worst.
Wish the best to those affected by this like usual - while unfortunately the videogame industry as a whole currently has issues, this live-service, free-to-play etc. model certainly doesn't help (as further shown by this already happening at Epic Games in 2023)...
@FawfulsFury
Japanese business and employment laws play a big part in that.
When Iwata and other top Nintendo executives took a big pay cut in 2014, those laws helped to prevent layoffs and protect employment positions.
Trouble in paradise?
That's ~25% of all Epic Games employees, the industry is in very dire straits if the company behind one of the biggest games on the planet needs to lay off this many people at once.
Horse couldn't be flogged forever.
Good luck to all those losing their jobs.
I blame myself for all those free games I've picked up from the Epic Games Store.
Sounds like an Epic Failure to me.
So even the juggernaut is affected. Goddamn. But I suppose when the game is FTP and relies on its in store currency skin and battle pass purchases it’s none too surprising.
Fortnite was also one of the most generous in terms of rewards and unlockables you could earn, (in free or paid tiers), so it was bound to hit them at some point.
I still commend all the newer modes they attempted to implement. Rocket Racing is extremely underrated (basically Excitetruck) and it sucks that they weren’t able to find engagement on this Arcady racer as it was awesome. The music festival battle mode i am less surprised is leaving, but at least it isn’t losing its main Rockband mode as thats Harmonix only output as of late.
@RupeeClock yeah but at the time Iwata also made clear that one of the most competitive aspects of Nintendo was having lower prices than the competition.
I REALLY doubt the current people in leadership at Nintendo feels the same, seeing what happened lately.
I'm no expert in this game (played it a bit to be sociable, but it's not my thing) but I've noticed my kids and their friends used to be on it daily up until a few months ago, and they've now abandoned it. When asked why, they responded with "it's gone rubbish."
Could be another bellweather of things to come. Last time Epic did this, several companies followed is short succession.
This could be the canary in the coal mine.
OR it could be that Fortnite is almost ten years old at this point.
@GoldenSunRM Nintendo, much like Apple, hasn’t gone on a mass hiring spree like other companies in the space. Hence why Nintendo Co in Japan has rarely laid people off or eliminated roles. Also, I believe if the company was in stretched like that again, Furukawa would do what Iwata did. It’s part of Nintendo’s corporate identity, which he hasn’t changed since Iwata’s passing. Other Japanese companies do the same practice. The last president of Toyota lost his role when the company lost their top spot in the world, so the new president’s mandate is to claim the top spot again.
Your feelings toward the company don’t fit the reality.
Don't forget how they then turned around and bought a ton of prizes for the new season.
"Pay the bills"
I bet no overpaid management / uppermanagement got cut, only regular staff!
Guys they’re a small indie company cut them some slack./s
@progx it's not a feeling that part of the core aspect of what was the identity of the company has changed.
Nintendo literally passed from being the company parents go to for the most high quality and cheap (in terms of money spent) product for their kid, to the opposite. It's clear that something has changed since Iwata's passing.
Show Comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...