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Fortnite V-Buck Prices Increase as Epic Games Lays Off Nearly 1000 Employees
28.09.2023 - 15:49 / wccftech.com / Jason Schreier / Lays Off
Over the past few years, Epic Games has been one of the biggest success stories in the industry. The massive popularity of Fortnite changed the entire gaming landscape, establishing the blueprint for a successful “live service” title. The profitability of Fortnite allowed Epic to do things like launch the Epic Games Store with better profit sharing for publishers, push a lot of cutting-edge new technology with Unreal Engine 5, and more. Unfortunately, it seems Epic’s run of unfettered success may have hit a speed bump.
According to Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, Epic is laying off over 900 employees, or around 16 percent of its total workforce. Even in today’s climate, where tech-related layoffs are increasingly common, that’s a pretty serious blow. Per Schreier, ex-Epic employees will receive 6 months of severance pay and continued health benefits. Why Epic has opted for these layouts isn’t entirely clear, although an internal Epic hands-on meeting should be happening soon, and details will likely leak.
NEWS: Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite and Unreal Engine, is laying off a whopping 16% of employees (or around 900 people), sources tell Bloomberg News. More to come
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) September 28, 2023
In what’s likely a related move, Epic has also announced they’re raising the price of their most reliable source of income – Fortnite V-Bucks. These price increases will affect the United States, Czech Republic, Denmark, other Eurozone countries, Hungary, Japan, Norway, Poland, Romania, Sweden, and Turkey. Prices were already recently went up in Canada, the UK, and Mexico. The US prices for V-Buck bundles will now be as follows…
It's not a huge price hike, but again, the timing alongside these layoffs feels meaningful. Personally, I’ve always thought Epic’s approach, where they're very generous with their engines, store, ect. and make it up with Fortnite was kind of built on sand. No game, not even the mighty Fortnite, is going to be a guaranteed goldmine forever, particularly during a possible recession. Of course, this is just speculation on my part as we still don’t have a lot of specifics on the Epic layoffs.
What do you think? What do you think is the cause of these Epic layoffs? Could the company be in longer-term trouble?
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