As Epic vs Apple Continues, Epic Games Announces Deep Cutting Layoffs

Today, Tim Sweeney sent an email to employees announcing significant layoffs at the company. Around 16% of Epic’s staff (about 900 employees) are being let go, and the company is also ridding itself of other projects like Bandcamp.

According to the email, the company’s been spending more money than it brings in with a large portion of that money having gone toward Fortnite’s “metaverse-inspired ecosystem for creators”. According to the email, Fortnite is growing, but that growth is mostly built around creator content, meaning a significant portion of revenue is being split with the creators.

The decision to lay off staff follows other cost-cutting measures, including a halt on hiring and cutting spending on marketing and events. It seems neither of these things has had the desired effect.

In additional news, the Epic Games/Apple dispute continues with both companies filing appeals with the Supreme Court. Yesterday, Mac Rumors reported that Epic filed an appeal noting that any major App Store changes impacts “hundreds of thousands of developers”. Today, another article on Mac Rumors notes that Apple has also filed an appeal regarding the decision on the company’s anti-steering rule intended to prevent developers from linking players outside the app to make purchases.

It will be a while before we get a decision, if we get one at all, from the Supreme Court. It’s possible that the Supreme Court may decide not to hear either case.