Fortnite Developer Epic Games Lays Off 1,000 Employees, Blaming 'Downturn in Engagement'

Fortnite developer Epic Games has announced it is laying off 1,000 staff, due to a "downturn in engagement" in its evergreen battle royale. In a message to staff shared publicly this morning, Epic Games boss Tim Sweeney said the company was "spending significantly more than we're making", meaning that it now needed to make "major cuts to keep the company funded." The news comes just a week after the launch of Fortnite's highly-anticipated new battle royale season, and two weeks after the company controversially raised the price of the game's lucrative V-Bucks in-game currency, prompting a huge backlash from players. "Today we’re laying off over 1,000 Epic employees," Sweeney told Epic Games 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." Today's layoffs are being accompanied by "over $500 million of identified cost savings" in contracting and marketing, he continued, while the hiring of some roles will cease. "Some of the challenges we're facing are industry-wide challenges," Sweeney wrote, blaming "slower growth, we