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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

#51

Post by Ekaros »

fidotron wrote: post #16
Rapzid wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a noble quest. And realistic; it's almost beyond reason how bad EGS is/was for so long with so much money and "the best people" thrown at it for a decade+. Anway, it's not quixotic IMHO.

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...

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

#52

Post by KellyCriterion »

Ekaros wrote: post #50

500M in savings seems like huge amount. Just how unstable is their income? And just what else have they been burning money on to look at that sort of cost saving goal.

If you are a billion dollar company, 500m are in the lower range

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

#53

Post by shimman »

leetharris wrote: post #43
shimman wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course it's enough, the problem is greed. They must perform ritual sacrifices to appease the market gods.

They aren't publicly traded.

You're right they don't have a board and definitely weren't punished by both the FTC/DOJ for anti-trust and manipulative business practices.

Just a small mom and pop shop that somehow seems to elude themselves from the typical braindead MBA playbook of ruining lives to justify their shitty business decisions.

Hopefully the beloved indie game studio can navigate these waters successfully! Lots of sharks out there that like to rat fuck the commons for personal gain, wouldn't want that to happen to the gaming company that helped normalize gambling to children.

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

#54

Post by zem »

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...

my completely uninformed speculation is that they didn't want to just build a clean, simple store that got out of your way, they wanted to throw in some sort of rent extraction or user control at every step.

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

#55

Post by shimman »

Maken wrote: post #47
shimman wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Always thought the hate against EA Origin was unwarranted. They 24 hour no questions ask refund policy back in ~2010 that took steam like 5 years to implement themselves. Outside of being forced to use a game launcher to launch their games, what was the real crime? Not enabling gambling on their platform like steam?

The main problem with EA Origin was EA itself. They have burnt every single bit of costumer trust EA as a company could have.

Yes but EA Origin was still very consumer friendly at that time. They were one of the only people offering digital refunds at the time. Being able to refund a game on origin then buying a different one on steam was definitely a peak in consumer gaming (that plus the humble bundle being good added to the feeling).

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

#56

Post by animal531 »

And yet somehow the stats show that most likely 2026 is easily on track to be a bumper gaming year, surpassing 2025.

Revenue wise they might be down from the 6bn in 2025 to somewhere in the mid 5's, so might as well get rid of 1000 employees while handing out bigger bonuses to senior staff.

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

#57

Post by sph »

gonzalohm wrote: post #14
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.

Everyone has tried already. EA, Ubisoft, Blizzard, Epic...

Everyone that needs to respond to shareholders has tried already, and failed against a privately-owned company.

Gabe Newell is a billionaire and has shown no particular need to enshittify his brand just to extract more profit. May he blessed with health and a long life.

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

#58

Post by fidotron »

zem wrote: post #54
Ekaros wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...

my completely uninformed speculation is that they didn't want to just build a clean, simple store that got out of your way, they wanted to throw in some sort of rent extraction or user control at every step.

Right, to apparently every MBA wielding PM they are actually primarily user ID systems which allow you to buy things (including whole games).

And doing this requires including a near complete web browser with piles of added hooks, obviously.

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

#59

Post by jeffwask »

fidotron wrote: post #33
ido wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Roblox

Roblox is a product for the Toys R Us crowd. You don't project from products that work for them on to what sells to teens and adults.

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

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

#60

Post by jeffwask »

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.

> religiously download the “free games” but never spent a cent.

We are Legion.

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