Epic Games Lays Off Over 1,000 Jobs Due to Fortnite Engagement Drop
Epic Games has laid off over 1,000 employees, specifically those focused on their free-to-play game Fortnite, due to the “downturn in Fortnite engagement that started in 2025.”
CEO Tim Sweeney made the announcement and didn’t mince words, stating that the major layoffs were due to declining revenue, with these cuts meant to keep the company profitable.
This is the full note sent to Epic employees by Tim:
Today we’re laying off over 1000 Epic employees. I'm sorry we're here again. The downturn in Fortnite engagement that started in 2025 means we're spending significantly more than we're making, and we have to make major cuts to keep the company funded. This layoff, together with over $500 million of identified cost savings in contracting, marketing, and closing some open roles puts us in a more stable place.
Some of the challenges we're facing are industry-wide challenges: slower growth, weaker spending, and tougher cost economics; current consoles selling less than last generation's; and games competing for time against other increasingly-engaging forms of entertainment.
And some of our challenges are unique to Epic. Despite Fortnite remaining one of the most successful games in the world, we’ve had challenges delivering consistent Fortnite magic with every season; we're only in the early stages of returning to mobile and optimizing Fortnite for the world's billions of smartphones; and in being the industry's vanguard we have taken a lot of bullets in a battle which is only in the early days of paying off for ourselves and all developers.
Since it's a thing now, I should note that the layoffs aren't related to AI. To the extent it improves productivity, we want to have as many awesome developers developing great content and tech as we can.
What we now need to do is clear: build awesome Fortnite experiences with fresh seasonal content, gameplay, story, and live events; accelerate developer tools with greater stability and capability as we evolve from Unreal Engine 5 and UEFN to Unreal Engine 6. And we'll be kicking off the next generation of Epic with huge launch plans towards the end of the year.
This isn't our first time being here. Epic survived upheavals in 1990's with the move from 2D to 3D with Unreal 1; in the 2000's building console games with Gears of War; and in 2012 moving to online gaming with Paragon and Fortnite. Each time, we rebuilt our foundations and earned a renewed leadership position.
Market conditions today are the most extreme we've seen since those early days, with massive upheaval in the industry accompanied by massive opportunity for the companies that come out as winners on the other side. That's what we're aiming to do for our players, and we aim to bring other like-minded developers in the industry along on the journey to build an increasingly open and vibrant future of entertainment together.
At Epic, we pride ourselves in only hiring the industry's best, so it is very painful to part with so many talented people. The folks impacted by the layoffs will receive a severance package that includes at least four months of base pay, with more based on tenure. We’re also extending Epic-paid healthcare coverage.
For example, in the U.S., they’ll receive paid coverage for 6 months. We’ll also accelerate their stock options vesting through January 2027 and extend equity exercise options for up to two years.
We'll have a company meeting Thursday to talk about the roadmap in more detail.
Fortnite’s Rocket Racing, Ballistic, & Festival Battle Stage Shutting Down
Epic also revealed that Fortnite’s game modes Rocket Racing, Ballistic, and Festival Battle Stage are all shutting down as they have “failed to build something awesome enough to attract and retain a large player base.”
Fortnite Ballistic and Festival Battle Stage will be removed from the game on April 16 during the game’s 40.20 update, while Rocket Racing will remain available until October 2026.
With the layoffs, more changes like the removal of these game modes will likely follow, as the free-to-play game experiences a natural decline in players compared to its peak as a worldwide phenomenon around 2018.
Fortnite Ballistic was first introduced as an early access game mode in 2024, alongside Festival Battle Stage and Rocket Racing. This was Epic’s attempt to go beyond the game’s battle royale fame and expand its reach to players with different interests. Unfortunately, things didn’t pan out.
This news isn’t a surprise. Epic Games grew rapidly and capitalized on that success, attempting to sustain it by expanding and pushing out different types of content. But 1,000 jobs lost is still an enormous number and puts into perspective the amount of manpower they invested to keep up with demand at the time.
About the Author - Carlos Hernandez
Carlos Hernandez is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Too Much Gaming, where he writes about video games, reviews, and industry news. A lifelong gamer, he would do anything to experience Final Fantasy Tactics for the first time again and has a love/hate relationship with games that require hunting for new gear to improve your character.
Resident Evil Requiem delivers in every way that counts. It’s terrifying when it needs to be, provides compelling characters, drops them into unforgettable settings, and keeps you on your toes with gripping combat.