Epic Games to cut more than 1k jobs as Fortnite usage falls • Hacker News Board

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

#581

Post by jamesfinlayson » Thu, Mar 26, 2026, 6:31 AM UTC

surgical_fire wrote: post #271

keyringlight wrote: post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't help thinking the battle was lost before it even started, no matter how good the offering was because the PC and mobile platforms (where epic operate their store) have 99.9% already decided who owns them. The way I see it Epic wanted to copy what Counter-strike and HL2 was to Steam, but using Fortnite to push their store for a fresh generation of gamers. The problem is they couldn't replace or exist alongside…

They could totally carve their niche if they focused in making their store better. Could it surpass Steam? Probably not. But you don't need to surpass Steam to have a viable, profitable store. GoG is the alternative that proves the rule - it is smaller, but they have their niche offering. EGS is shit, and relied on exclusives (which everyone typically hates, especially on PC).

Yeah GOG for me fills a niche - old/classic games with no DRM. I realise that I can get them mostly from Steam but I support GOG and their goals.

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

#582

Post by Ferret7446 » Thu, Mar 26, 2026, 7:37 AM UTC

wongarsu wrote: post #370

mort96 wrote: post #317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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. I don't agree. The reason I personally prefer Steam is that all my existing games are on Steam so if I keep buying on Steam I don't have to make and maintain accounts on other stores, if I keep buying my games on Steam I can keep using Steam as my only…

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…

I hate to break it to you, you're never buying any games, only licenses. If you don't like that, get copyright law abolished.

Even if you "buy" a physical "game", you are just buying a license.

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

#583

Post by iknowstuff » Fri, Mar 27, 2026, 5:25 PM UTC

gambiting wrote: post #532

iknowstuff wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Because it's a big problem that they are generally not interested in truly solving https://hindenburgresearch.com/roblox/ To quote just a section of the report: Core to the problem is that Roblox’s social media features allow pedophiles to efficiently target hundreds of children, with no up-front screening to prevent them from joining the platform. For example, in 2018, prior to Roblox going public, a 29-year-old was…

I say we ban children from the internet

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

#584

Post by cheevly » Mon, Mar 30, 2026, 3:21 AM UTC

ryandrake wrote: post #566

phil21 wrote: post #553

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would games need their own launcher? Just install the damn game, ask if you want icons on the desktop as well as in the start menu. OS handles it all for you. Perhaps some multiplayer functionality and such makes sense to share cross-game, but I miss the bad old days of every game having a bunch of privately maintained servers and its own server browser list etc. You could eventually find a few servers that fit y…

Yea, that's another way games are terrible today. I don't want a launcher for my game. My OS is my launcher. I don't want a launcher, I don't want a store, I don't want a "helper," I don't want a tray icon, I don't want an updater. Why can't game companies just ship their game and that's it?

Try shipping a game and you’ll find out real quick.