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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

#451

Post by kgwgk »

oblio wrote: post #413
nailer wrote: post #320

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "The downturn in Fortnite engagement that started in 2025 means we're spending significantly more than we're making" He is - the stakeholders are his shareholders, who don't want him to run a loss, and to whom he is responsible.

In 1 phrase, the source of most evils in modern society. A minority of people (shareholders) holding the majority of people (employees) at gunpoint.

They are working for money, not coerced with a gun pointing at them. They are free to leave as they please and often do.

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

#452

Post by paulddraper »

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…

> HOW?!?

They are paying creators a lot. $220 million in 2023. [1]

That combined with trying to undercut Steam on royalties, the 2025 softening of their cash cow, the Apple legal wars, a number of R&D bets, giving away free games, and an absolutely MASSIVE marketing budget...it can go fast.

[1] https://naavik.co/podcast/fortnite-creative-origins/

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

#453

Post by paulddraper »

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.

> neither is anyone in the capital class entitled to own shit

No one would argue otherwise.

You may acquire property, but that is on you.

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

#454

Post by antonhand »

llyama wrote: post #438
Ethee wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

A big reason it feels like nobody competes with steam is that if you want to sell your game on steam it can't be cheaper elsewhere. So any other store can't compete on price. If you don't sell your game on steam you are missing 90% of the market. So as long as Valve continue to make steam good enough, nobody has an incentive to switch. It's an abusive monopoly. Steam take 30% of revenue from developers and Epic take…

That isn't true though. The only restriction is if the thing you're selling on that other store is Steam Keys themselves.

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

#455

Post by 2postsperday »

teamonkey wrote: post #389
4corners4sides wrote: post #26

Roblox is the elephant in the room here which fills the niche for freemium, fun 3D experiences that run on basically any platform or device.

Roblox accounts for about 50% of total video game play time, it’s insane how big Roblox is. But not just Roblox. People are spending their time and money elsewhere too. Polymarket and sports betting for one.

[dead]

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

#456

Post by xeromal »

jasondigitized wrote: post #142
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…

This. You need to fire your CFO immediately if you don't have billions of dollars in cash after the run you just had on Fortnite.

They could have loads of money and still would need to tighten their belt once usage drops. I could have 100ks in my savings accounts but if my hours / salary was reduced at work, I would still reduce my spending. It's just being smart.

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

#457

Post by bigstrat2003 »

tharkun__ wrote: post #399
wongarsu wrote: post #370

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another big thing is trust. With any of these digital markets I'm not truly buying games, I'm purchasing a revocable license. That requires a certain amount of trust that the platform isn't going to screw me over. Steam isn't perfect: they initially had to be forced to offer refunds, and their item economy enables barely disguised gambling. But by and large they have behaved very predictably and consumer-friendly. So…

The big "test" there for Steam will be when "Gabe goes away". It's gonna happen sooner or later.

I'm normally firmly against piracy, because I believe it to be morally equivalent to theft and I want to fund the artists making stuff I enjoy. But if Valve shreds my purchases when Gabe dies or retires, I will hoist the black flag on those games and not feel an ounce of guilt. As the saying says: if buying isn't owning, then piracy isn't stealing.

But we'll see. I hope it doesn't come to that. That said, I'm trying to change my purchase habits over to GOG because even if Gabe's successor doesn't screw over the Steam customers, eventually someone will. With GOG there's no possibility of the games I pay for being taken away from me.

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

#458

Post by NoahZuniga »

TGower wrote: post #323
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…

Nanite is a good counterexample, very impressive and innovative technology. Even more impressive that they released the technical details instead of going the software patent route. I think trying to leverage the war chest to go after Steam's monopoly was exactly the type of adventurous plan you are talking about, the safe play would have been to make minimal investments and continue churning out games hoping for ano…

You can't go the software patent route without releasing technical details.

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

#459

Post by aceazzameen »

KaiMagnus wrote: post #249
Strom wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about Valve itself? They have ~350 employees. They make Steam, SteamOS, Steam Deck, Steam Machine, Steam Frame, the Source engine, and run four actively successful live service games: CS2, Dota2, TF2, Deadlock.

Last I've heard Valve makes use of a lot of contractors however. So the number of people working on their projects is a bit higher than their employee count suggests. Anyone's guess how many though. I know they're sponsoring a bunch of ARM and Linux projects as well.

Every studio uses a surprisingly large amount of contractors including Epic Games, Riot, etc.

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

#460

Post by porcoda »

Interesting how not many comments talk about the game itself and how Epic may have driven their own players away with changes that players dislike. I’ve played for most of the life of the game pretty regularly and I’ve found myself growing tired of “yet another season full of movie/TV crossover junk”. You can tell they’re focusing on pulling money in via partnerships, and not paying much attention to “is this what players want”. Unsurprising you’d see player numbers drop.
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