Epic Games Lays Off Over 1,000 Employees in Surprise Mass Layoff Amid Fortnite Engagement Downturn

Epic Games has cut 1,000 jobs in a surprise mass layoff, with many being completely blindsided by the announcement.

Fortnite has been one of the go-to live-service titles for years now. However, even Epic - and its jaw‑dropping Fortnite events - can’t withstand layoffs. The company shared the unfortunate news today on its website.

“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 in identified cost savings from contracting, marketing, and closing some open roles, puts us in a more stable place,” wrote Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games.

He continued:

“What we now need to do is clear: build awesome Fortnite experiences with fresh seasonal content, gameplay, story, and live events; accelerate developer tools with greater stability and capability as we evolve from Unreal Engine 5 and UEFN to Unreal Engine 6. We’ll also be kicking off the next generation of Epic with huge launch plans toward the end of the year.”

Sweeney finished the post by saying, “We’ll have a company meeting Thursday to talk about the roadmap in more detail.”

One former employee posted on X, JP Kellams:

“I was impacted by today’s layoffs at Epic. Truly came out of nowhere for me - right before my birthday, too. I really liked Epic. I really liked the teams. I really liked what we were doing in music. So, it’s all a shock. Time to breathe for a minute. Then onward and upward.”

It appears most employees had no idea this was coming, leaving many blindsided by the news and now searching for future work. Our thoughts go out to all those affected - may you find something soon.

Let us know what you think about Epic Games and their latest round of layoffs in the comments. We hope the industry finds a solution for the many affected people who continuously lose their jobs, making it harder and harder to work in the industry we all love and enjoy.