Epic Games har annonceret, at de skal fyre 1000 mennesker. Det er blevet meddelt af CEO Tim Sweeney i en besked som blev sendt til alle ansatte og efterfølgende postet på virksomhedens website. Her giver Sweeney flere forskellige grunde til fyringerne, men siger at AI ikke har spillet nogen rolle her.
For det første siger Sweeney, at interessen for Fortnite er spillet en rolle, da "we're spending significantly more than we're making, and we have to make major cuts to keep the company funded." Ud over fyringerne, er der lavet en spareplan som skal spare Epic Games for en halv milliard dollars i forsøget på at få stabiliseret virksomheden.
We're spending significantly more than we're making, and we have to make major cuts to keep the company funded
- Tim Sweeney, CEO, Epic Games
Sweeney nævner også, at en af grundene til fyringerne er spareplanen er generelle udfordringer i spilindustrien, blandt andet at de nye konsoller sælger langsommere end i sidste generation. Sweeney siger, at Epic Games har noteret sig "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."
Sweeney fortsætter med at forklare, at fyringerne ikke er relateret til AI, for selvom det forøger produktiviteten, så vil han gerne "have as many awesome developers developing great content and tech as we can."
Sweeney slutter af med at sige: "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."
Epic Games planlægger også at lukke ned for Fortnite's Rocket Racing, Ballistic og Festival Battle Stage modes. Ballistic og Festival Battle Stage vil lukke allerede 16. april, mens Rocket Racing vil lukke til oktober. Disse modes lukker fordi "we failed to build something awesome enough to attract and retain a large player base."
Hvordan ser fremtiden så ud for Epic Games? Jo, selskabet vil fortsætte med at bygge "awesome Fortnite experiences with fresh seasonal content, gameplay, story, and live events," mens der er planlagt større annonceringer omkring deres Unreal Engine, som er den klart mest brugte spilmotor i verden. Spørgsmålet er, om der kommer flere tiltag, for at holde Epic Games flydende i den kommende tid?