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Epic Games to cut more than 1k jobs as Fortnite usage falls

reuters.com

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Re: Epic Games to cut more than 1k jobs as Fortnite usage falls

#121

Post by bsimpson »

Anvoker wrote: post #79

Often when I see layoffs like this, I can't help but think "Wow that company has so many employees and yet, in practice, does so little". This perhaps a rather uncharitable sentiment, but I can't help but have it. Yes, Unreal Engine keeps getting improved, more Fortnite content gets produced. But there is a general lack of innovation, one that I find personally painful when I look at Epic's recent-ish track record. N…

I suspect the way you get to that size is having a team of 5 people doing X for Fortnite going "man, we could do our specific job a bit better if we has 7 people." Scale that to a whole corp.

Each job is justified in isolation to do a specific thing, at least at the hiring time. I suspect there aren't a lot of people thinking at a high level as you are "we have this many gajillion dollars - what are we betting on?"

Re: Epic Games to cut more than 1k jobs as Fortnite usage falls

#122

Post by Akronymus »

0pranav wrote: post #64
fidotron wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In fairness, someone has to try. We can't rely on GabeN being (relatively) benign without serious competition.

I think the following is the bare minimum to compete with Steam at this point: 1. Store with discoverability, 2. A functional cart feature at launch 3. A wishlist with notifications for discount 4. Relatively high download speeds (500Mbps at least) 5. Friends list and activity feed 6. Achievements 7. An equivalent to steam input API 8. Regional pricing with robust payment options 9. Development/Beta build distributio…

Missing a few things there: Reviews and working on linux, for example.

Re: Epic Games to cut more than 1k jobs as Fortnite usage falls

#123

Post by applfanboysbgon »

indubioprorubik wrote: post #110
yifanl wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because games is simply not a particularly profitable industry. There's a reason why Valve moved on from making games to being a digital landlord.

Well, you goto be good nowadays, you compete against the whole worlds dreamy eyed teeangers wanting to make "their"game. A wellfunded, pig-trough-slop-mill ala hollywood can not compete against that when it comes to fun, art and experiences. They fled into gambling, but gamers actively ostracize lootboxers nowadays.

> gamers actively ostracize lootboxers nowadays.

Gamers love, love, love lootboxes. Can't get enough of them. There are many lootbox games with 10-100s of millions of players. The Reddit/HN vocal minority who hate lootboxes (myself included) probably represent <5%, if that.

Re: Epic Games to cut more than 1k jobs as Fortnite usage falls

#124

Post by tombert »

Imustaskforhelp wrote: post #109
tombert wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I broadly agree, though it does seem like Minecraft has some plot armor here. I think people are still buying and playing Minecraft a lot. I like Minecraft, I play it occasionally, but I guess it's a game that has much more staying power than average. I though my grievances with Epic are primarily because we never got Jazz Jackrabbit 3.

There are some grievances with minecraft recently Someone is suing mojang because they break EU/Swedish law (It was a youtube video worth watching) Minecraft bedrock is having some incredibly shitty tactics to move people towards their marketplace while community calling it bugrock I don't think that many people who play Minecraft really appreciate Mojang being bought by Microsoft. Many are oblivious to the fact sure…

I don't own a Windows computer so I only play the Java Edition, which still shockingly gets regularly updates and is very mod-friendly even still. When MS bought Minecraft I assumed that they were going to drop support for the Java version but I was clearly wrong about that.

Didn't know about the lawsuit though, I will give that a look.

Re: Epic Games to cut more than 1k jobs as Fortnite usage falls

#125

Post by MeetingsBrowser »

mdrzn wrote: post #37
BoredPositron wrote: post #3

I hate that Tim got lucky two times with initiatives of employees that went against his will. I hope epic falters.

More info on this? What are you referring to?

My guess is one of them is Fortnite.

Rumor is Fortnite was stuck in development hell for a decade and was used as a punishment assignment for under-performing devs.

The Fortnite team added battle royal mode on a whim after a mediocre initial release and it has churned out five billion a year in revenue every year since.

Re: Epic Games to cut more than 1k jobs as Fortnite usage falls

#126

Post by zzzoom »

ivraatiems wrote: post #65

I am not Tim Sweeney's biggest fan. I know he and his company have many detractors. Please read this comment with that in mind, because while I don't love them, I also think that as layoff announcements go, this is good. No beating around the bush, explicitly NOT blaming AI, taking responsibility, taking care of those impacted. If you are gonna do it, this is as good as it can get. I think the reality is that Epic go…

They did try to pull a Valve and use their successful game to fund a game store that prints money.

Re: Epic Games to cut more than 1k jobs as Fortnite usage falls

#127

Post by yifanl »

MeetingsBrowser wrote: post #102
yifanl wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because games is simply not a particularly profitable industry. There's a reason why Valve moved on from making games to being a digital landlord.

Fortnite alone is estimated to produce more than five billion USD in annual revenue every year since 2018

Every year the licensing fees add up as they add more collaborations, while revenue is not rising to match.

Re: Epic Games to cut more than 1k jobs as Fortnite usage falls

#128

Post by shakna »

Imustaskforhelp wrote: post #109
tombert wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I broadly agree, though it does seem like Minecraft has some plot armor here. I think people are still buying and playing Minecraft a lot. I like Minecraft, I play it occasionally, but I guess it's a game that has much more staying power than average. I though my grievances with Epic are primarily because we never got Jazz Jackrabbit 3.

There are some grievances with minecraft recently Someone is suing mojang because they break EU/Swedish law (It was a youtube video worth watching) Minecraft bedrock is having some incredibly shitty tactics to move people towards their marketplace while community calling it bugrock I don't think that many people who play Minecraft really appreciate Mojang being bought by Microsoft. Many are oblivious to the fact sure…

I assume you're referring to Kian Brose v. Mojang? [0]

A class action, where the EULA was updated without full consent being sought correctly.

[0] https://tribune.com.pk/story/2567759/minecraft-faces-a-class...

Re: Epic Games to cut more than 1k jobs as Fortnite usage falls

#129

Post by acheron »

tombert wrote: post #85
ivraatiems wrote: post #65

I am not Tim Sweeney's biggest fan. I know he and his company have many detractors. Please read this comment with that in mind, because while I don't love them, I also think that as layoff announcements go, this is good. No beating around the bush, explicitly NOT blaming AI, taking responsibility, taking care of those impacted. If you are gonna do it, this is as good as it can get. I think the reality is that Epic go…

I broadly agree, though it does seem like Minecraft has some plot armor here. I think people are still buying and playing Minecraft a lot. I like Minecraft, I play it occasionally, but I guess it's a game that has much more staying power than average. I though my grievances with Epic are primarily because we never got Jazz Jackrabbit 3.

Time for them to pivot to their strength: ZZT

Re: Epic Games to cut more than 1k jobs as Fortnite usage falls

#130

Post by Ethee »

applfanboysbgon wrote: post #95
Quarrelsome wrote: post #87

> "We're spending significantly more than we're making, and we have to make major cuts to keep the company funded," he said. Sorry, HOW?!? How can a company like Epic games with one of the most successful gaming products of the last few decades be losing money with a product that is so mature? Almost every other games developer would love to be in their position on Fortnite but they've somehow turned that into a loss…

They aren't losing money on Fortnite, they're losing money on vanity projects like the Epic Game Store where they spend tens of millions of dollars for exclusivity deals with developers, and give away free games to try to poach Steam users with an otherwise inferior product. Unfortunately it is their employees that are paying the price of leadership making it rain with their overflowing coffers they couldn't help but…

It's still funny to me that they would rather burn 9 figures in cash on these silly deals to try and 'trap' gamers on their platform instead of just... I don't know... making a better platform? The reason nobody competes with Steam is simply the sheer number of integration and platform features that make it easy to buy, play and share games with my friends. It's not that hard, stop trying to 'force' me to use your platform. Just make it a nice experience.
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