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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

#161

Post by pjmlp »

michens wrote: post #107
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.

It absolutely is a profitable industry, maybe not as profitable as todays greedy shareholders would like it to be. Just look at the CD Projekt that releases 1 game per 10 years and still makes a fortune through Netflix colabs and selling merch.

It is full of street performers, some manage to strike a deal with a label, and tour the world once.

Afterwards depends on how they manage to keep surfing the success wave.

Basically.

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

#162

Post by anvuong »

yifanl wrote: post #108
sph wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Citation needed.

Look at NVidia's stock price during the period when they announced a pivot away from gaming.

This is the worst take I've seen in a while on HN. Nvidia doesn't make games, and for its case, they can either sell the same die as a gaming GPU for $2,000, or as a server GPU for >$30,000, the math is simple and obvious, which is why the stock jumps.

Epic doesn't have anything else besides the gaming market. And the gaming market is huge, it's more than music and movies combined, so please just stop spilling bullshit.

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

#163

Post by modeless »

LiamhCryptokeys wrote: post #118

The Valve comparison is apt. The difference is Valve built Steam as infrastructure first, then quietly stepped back from games. Epic did it backwards — they built the game first, then tried to force the infrastructure (EGS) into existence with money. Much harder to do it that way.

Valve built more games than Epic in the past 10 years. Epic essentially only released Robo Recall and Fortnite + extra content, plus a spinoff of Rocket League which was an acquisition. Valve released a couple of duds (Artifact, Dota Underlords) but also some good games: Half-Life: Alyx, Counter-Strike 2, and Deadlock. They also did "The Lab" and "Aperture Desk Job" which, while not full games, were quite good as demos for their hardware.

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

#165

Post by mzajc »

b3lvedere wrote: post #19
pram wrote: post #6

I’ve wondered how much money was burned on Tim Sweeneys quixotic quest to re-create the Steam store. I know a lot of people who would religiously download the “free games” but never spent a cent.

The Epic Games store/browser is awful. I have bought one (insanely discounted) game on it and get all the free games, because i like to collect videogames. But i almost never play them, because the application is super slow. Steam has absolutely the best application, then (with a huge enormous gap) comes Gog, Amazon, Xbox, EA, Ubisoft and Epic at the rock bottom. I don't use Blizzards program, so i can't judge on tha…

> then (with a huge enormous gap) comes Gog

My favourite thing about GOG is that it uniquely does not demand that you install their software, instead letting you download installers straight from the website.

They're not fake netinstallers either, which doubles as a guarantee that I keep all of my games even if GOG goes bankrupt/bans my account/wipes my library/etc.

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

#166

Post by zer00eyz »

Ethee wrote: post #130
applfanboysbgon wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 pl…

The irony here should be lost on no one.

The the lawsuit with apple:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epic_Games_v._Apple

The massive set of fines...

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2022/12/...

> Just make it a nice experience.

That might get in the way of greed and hubris.

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

#167

Post by jasondigitized »

yifanl wrote: post #132
applfanboysbgon wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nvidia doesn't make games, this is one of the worst takes I've ever seen on this site.

They made products that were effectively only targeted at the gaming audience, and when they pivoted, they were rewarded substantially, as the wider market recognizes how small the niche they used to be in was compared to where they are now.

Because of basic economics. The opportunity size of AI for NVidia is unlike anything we have ever seen. Of course they pivoted.

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

#168

Post by darkteflon »

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…

It’s a reasonable take, but I do think there is a wrinkle: Tim is an AI proponent, but also understands the current politics of it. Personally, I doubt that AI has nothing to do with this: Tim just knows not to admit it.

Re Tim the man: I have no opinion on him, but I follow gaming news closely and know that he is polarising. However, I saw this recently in PC Gamer and thought it was admirable: https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/epic-ceo-and-billion...

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

#170

Post by pjmlp »

indubioprorubik wrote: post #113
zitterbewegung wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Right now even Valve realizes that Steam will literally run out of steam. This is why they have been trying to become more like Nintendo and selling their own hardware (with varying success) .

Valve wants a boat that is independent of microsoft. Not to go down with that Tit.A.I.nic seems like a smart move.

Hardly when their business depends on running Windows games on top of Proton.

Independence of paying Windows licenses or Microsoft store taxes, sure.

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