Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

reuters.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

441–450 of 584 posts

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

#441

Post by IncreasePosts »

bad_haircut72 wrote: post #395
ganelonhb wrote: post #393

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This will be an unpopular take but I agree with it mostly. Always remember that you are not entitled to a job just because you need it to live. Always make sure you stay sharp and prepared for the worst case

If you're not entitled to a job, neither is anyone in the capital class entitled to own shit, they own the best houses, all the means of production - they're not entitled to any of that either.

What?

A job is a mutually beneficial agreement between two parties. Either side can generally sever the agreement if it's not viewed as beneficial.

Owning things like houses and companies is more about the compact between people and the government. People are entitled to "own shit", because that's how our government is set up.

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

#442

Post by johnnyanmac »

Ekaros wrote: post #51
fidotron wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been involved enough with a few (mobile and PC) efforts in this direction, and now believe the US business culture can't create new ones in established markets. The reason is the highly successful competitor, in that case Steam, inspires a sort of megalomania in those aiming to compete with them, which leads to spectacular self destruction and consumer confusion as stores try to act big long before they are self…

Also really makes me question your average USA based developer. Making a program and storefront to manage few dozen to few hundred applications can not be that complicated problem. I am not here even talking about scale of Steam libraries that outlier customers have. There must be some fundamental problem with either developers or management system or both...

It's the same issue as games. No one ever says "I bought this game becsuse of its clean UI". Not unless you're a dev doing market studies. But at the same time, a bad UI in many genres can sink a game. So UIs tend to be as minimal as necessary to ship. Even Steam had the same UI for some 15+ years beffoe finally giving it different library views

The minimal here was to take the Unreal Launcher (which was always meh. But devs rarely interact with the launcher) and shove the tab into there. Any problems with that launcher were passed to the EGS, and amplified by being B2C.

If I have to be honest, it's also tribalism. Exclusives are not a new concept even on PC. But the reaction to some EGS exclusives was so extreme. The PR hit didn't do many favors.

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

#443

Post by johnnyanmac »

pbrum wrote: post #211

Not long ago I was looking at my favorite games of decades past. Unreal Tournament figured very prominently, made of course by Epic. So I wondered: why did they stop making Unreal games? I looked at their game chronology. On one hand, they made Gears of War, an Xbox exclusive that never interested me. And the other one? Oh, right: Fortnite. That's where Unreal Tournament went. They made tons of money for sure. But no…

Same reason valve doesn't make games anymore. They followed the money and licensing their engine did a lot more than making games. Any games they made were to showcase the engine.

They just happened to hit the goldmine with Fortnite.

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

#444

Post by ijk »

kgwxd wrote: post #69
b3lvedere wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> i like to collect videogames Starting thinking of it as collection licenses to maybe install games, assuming the license is still valid when you finally get around to playing it. And your account is still valid. And the servers are still running. And your operating system will still run it. etc. Maybe just get off the train. Your numbers add to the awful business model these games are built on.

Which is GOG's selling point, versus Steam.

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

#445

Post by kgwgk »

brendoelfrendo wrote: post #298
tayo42 wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why did they need to make a store? Seems like there was no need for it...

Why does anyone need to make a store? Walmart and Target both exist. Generally, consumer choice and industry competition are considered good things that drive innovation and the nicer experiences we're talking about.

Interestingly both Walmart and Target opened in 1962. There were other stores by then, so I guess there was no need.

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

#446

Post by johnnyanmac »

iknowstuff wrote: post #241
jeffwask wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Technically, you need to include the adult predators as recurring revenue too.

why is this such a talking point about roblox? couldnt this be said about literally any online platform ever?

Because Roblox has had many high profile issues with it and their response is much more tepid than other platforms.

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

#448

Post by johnnyanmac »

TheRoque wrote: post #378

Would it be possible that they become less generous with unreal engine and its free tier ? Right now it's 5% beyond 1 million revenue, free before.

Probably not. I imagine most people making under 1m won't fund much more overall compared to the big studios.

But the contract can always change (look at Unity). That's a part of why it's best to own your tools if you're able to.

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

#449

Post by dclowd9901 »

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…

This was the first thing that came to mind with me as well: the language of the reasoning for the layoffs. It's never a leadership failure is it?

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

#450

Post by nitwit005 »

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…

> They could be funding many experiments and seek to have another hit like Fortnite

Remember that their success came from abandoning their original zombie game idea, and copying ideas from the new battle royale genre. With more polish, of course.

Post reply on HN