{"id":1846223,"date":"2026-03-25T16:47:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T13:47:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1846223"},"modified":"2026-03-25T16:47:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T13:47:20","slug":"fortnite-developers-say-there-will-be-a-huge-impact-on-development-for-the-rest-of-the-year-and-likely-beyond-following-mass-layoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1846223","title":{"rendered":"Fortnite developers say there will be a huge impact on development &#8220;for the rest of the year and likely beyond&#8221; following mass layoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article \" data-ads=\"true\" data-article-type=\"news\" data-article-group=\"news\" data-paywalled=\"false\" data-premium=\"false\" data-sponsored=\"false\" data-type=\"article\">\n<header class=\"article_header\" data-component=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<nav class=\"nav_breadcrumbs\" data-component=\"nav-breadcrumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\">\n<ul class=\"nav-links\">\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Home<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/news\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      News<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/fortnite\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Fortnite<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_details\" id=\"main-content\">\n<h1 class=\"title\">Fortnite developers say there will be a huge impact on development &#8220;for the rest of the year and likely beyond&#8221; following mass layoffs<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">Uncertain roadmap.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_asset\">\n<figure class=\"headline_image_wrapper\">\n<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"headline_image\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/Fortnite-Chapter-7-Season-2-trailer.jpg?width=570&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 2 trailer screenshot\" loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"Fortnite-Chapter-7-Season-2-trailer.jpg\" data-lightbox width=\"570\" height=\"321\"><figcaption>\n          <span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Epic Games<\/cite><\/span><br \/>\n        <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metadata\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Fran Ruiz avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/fran-j-ruiz-author.png?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"180\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img alt=\"Fran Ruiz avatar\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"fran-j-ruiz-author.png\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"180\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text\">\n<div class=\"byline\">\n                  <span class=\"article_type\" data-slug=\"news\"><br \/>\n                    News<br \/>\n                  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"by\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/authors\/fran-ruiz\">Fran Ruiz<\/a><\/span>                    <span class=\"job_title\"><br \/>\n                      Contributor<br \/>\n                    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"published_at\">\nPublished on <time datetime=\"2026-03-25T16:47:20+00:00\">March 25, 2026<\/time>              <\/div>\n<div class=\"comments\">\n      <a class=\"comments__link comments-bubble\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/fortnite-producer-comments-on-mass-layoffs-march-2026?view=comments\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n          1 comment<br \/>\n      <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mypop-header-wrapper\">\n<p><button class=\"mypop-button button wide\" data-state=\"follow\" data-type=\"tag\" data-uuid=\"a8888b6d-5bc0-480f-a9ef-1f57b9dc36eb\" data-name=\"Fortnite\" data-follow-text=\"Follow Fortnite\" data-unfollow-text=\"Following Fortnite\" data-aria-follow-text=\"Follow Fortnite\" data-aria-unfollow-text=\"Following Fortnite\" data-popup=\"true\" data-force-login=\"true\" aria-label=\"Follow Fortnite\" title=\"Follow Fortnite\"><br \/>\n  Follow Fortnite<br \/>\n<\/button>          <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/fortnite\">Fortnite<\/a> is one of the biggest games in the world, so it isn&#8217;t overly surprising to see <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/fortnite-save-the-world-mode-goes-free-to-play-april-2026\">Epic Games make adjustments<\/a> to how the title is run as the game nears its tenth birthday. Maintaining a massive multiplatform operation filled with big IP collaborations isn&#8217;t cheap or easy, and that knowledge lead to some shocking news yesterday, 24th March, when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/fortnite-maker-epic-cuts-over-1000-jobs-as-battle-royale-suffers-slump\">over 1,000 positions were cut<\/a> at the developer.<\/p>\n<p>Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney pointed to a &#8220;downturn&#8221; in engagement (even if the game continues to a operate as a massive hit drawing in numbers that many publishers and developers would eye with envy). Whether or not you think Fortnite is &#8216;too big to fail&#8217;, or an unsustatinable monolith, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/fortnite-still-biggest-game-in-the-world-but-playtime-dropped-in-2025\">data from last year<\/a> pointed to healthy on-going results for Epic games and its premiere battle royal.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 2: Showdown - Official Battle Pass Trailer\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lQiBH6_BafY?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/lQiBH6_BafY\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 2: Showdown &#8211; Official Battle Pass Trailer<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"button video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=lQiBH6_BafY\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figure>\n<p>It&#8217;s hard to get the full picture of the situation less than 24 hours after the terrible news shook the entire games industry, but it&#8217;s clear Epic Games isn&#8217;t as confident about its money-maker as it was a few years ago. After laying off over 1,000 developers, Sweeney&#8217;s loose message to staff demanded the same gargantuan efforts from the employees that remain untouched by the recent cuts (via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/our-teams-will-have-to-pick-up-the-pieces-fortnites-remaining-staff-say-they-cannot-even-fully-understand-the-mass-layoffs-impact-on-the-game-this-year-and-beyond\">IGN<\/a>): to simply &#8220;build awesome Fortnite experiences with fresh seasonal content, gameplay, story, and live events&#8221; while also preparing to transition to Unreal Engine 6. No biggie, then.<\/p>\n<p>Sweeney promises more details about what&#8217;s next for Epic &#8220;towards the end of the year,&#8221; yet Fortnite devs are now left cleaning the mess after a disaster and preparing to take on absurd amounts of work with a smaller headcount: &#8220;Our teams will have to pick up the pieces and try to keep moving forward&#8230; but we cannot even fully understand what kind of impacts this will have on the game for the rest of the year and likely beyond,&#8221; gameplay producer Robby Williams said <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/riftinrobby\/status\/2036578928752468300?s=20\">on social media<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll continue to do my best to keep making the best game for you&#8230; and I&#8217;m confident that my peers feel the same, but please be patient with us as we navigate this tough time and do our best in spite of these truly gut-wrenching losses,&#8221; he added. Meanwhile, veteran employees like design director Christopher Pope, principal engineer <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/evankinney\/status\/2036452221089391036?s=20\">Evan Kinney<\/a>, and lead writer <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Rezztro\/status\/2036518011088019651?s=20\">Nik Blahunka<\/a>, among many others, announced they were impacted by the mass layoffs. The impact of this major shake-up can&#8217;t be understated, and it leaves the future of the game &#8211; and Epic, more generally &#8211; looking very uncertain.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"preferred-source\" data-component=\"preferred-source\">\nLove Eurogamer.net? Make us a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\">Preferred Source on Google<\/a> and catch more of our coverage in your feeds.  <\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/fortnite\">Fortnite<\/a> is one of the biggest games in the world, so it isn&#8217;t overly surprising to see <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/fortnite-save-the-world-mode-goes-free-to-play-april-2026\">Epic Games make adjustments<\/a> to how the title is run as the game nears its tenth birthday. Maintaining a massive multiplatform operation filled with big IP collaborations isn&#8217;t cheap or easy, and that knowledge lead to some shocking news yesterday, 24th March, when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/fortnite-maker-epic-cuts-over-1000-jobs-as-battle-royale-suffers-slump\">over 1,000 positions were cut<\/a> at the developer.<\/p>\n<p>Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney pointed to a &#8220;downturn&#8221; in engagement (even if the game continues to a operate as a massive hit drawing in numbers that many publishers and developers would eye with envy). Whether or not you think Fortnite is &#8216;too big to fail&#8217;, or an unsustatinable monolith, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/fortnite-still-biggest-game-in-the-world-but-playtime-dropped-in-2025\">data from last year<\/a> pointed to healthy on-going results for Epic games and its premiere battle royal.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 2: Showdown - Official Battle Pass Trailer\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lQiBH6_BafY?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/lQiBH6_BafY\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 2: Showdown &#8211; Official Battle Pass Trailer<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><a class=\"button video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=lQiBH6_BafY\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figure>\n<p>It&#8217;s hard to get the full picture of the situation less than 24 hours after the terrible news shook the entire games industry, but it&#8217;s clear Epic Games isn&#8217;t as confident about its money-maker as it was a few years ago. After laying off over 1,000 developers, Sweeney&#8217;s loose message to staff demanded the same gargantuan efforts from the employees that remain untouched by the recent cuts (via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ign.com\/articles\/our-teams-will-have-to-pick-up-the-pieces-fortnites-remaining-staff-say-they-cannot-even-fully-understand-the-mass-layoffs-impact-on-the-game-this-year-and-beyond\">IGN<\/a>): to simply &#8220;build awesome Fortnite experiences with fresh seasonal content, gameplay, story, and live events&#8221; while also preparing to transition to Unreal Engine 6. No biggie, then.<\/p>\n<p>Sweeney promises more details about what&#8217;s next for Epic &#8220;towards the end of the year,&#8221; yet Fortnite devs are now left cleaning the mess after a disaster and preparing to take on absurd amounts of work with a smaller headcount: &#8220;Our teams will have to pick up the pieces and try to keep moving forward&#8230; but we cannot even fully understand what kind of impacts this will have on the game for the rest of the year and likely beyond,&#8221; gameplay producer Robby Williams said <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/riftinrobby\/status\/2036578928752468300?s=20\">on social media<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;ll continue to do my best to keep making the best game for you&#8230; and I&#8217;m confident that my peers feel the same, but please be patient with us as we navigate this tough time and do our best in spite of these truly gut-wrenching losses,&#8221; he added. Meanwhile, veteran employees like design director Christopher Pope, principal engineer <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/evankinney\/status\/2036452221089391036?s=20\">Evan Kinney<\/a>, and lead writer <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Rezztro\/status\/2036518011088019651?s=20\">Nik Blahunka<\/a>, among many others, announced they were impacted by the mass layoffs. The impact of this major shake-up can&#8217;t be understated, and it leaves the future of the game &#8211; and Epic, more generally &#8211; looking very uncertain.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home News Fortnite Fortnite developers say there will be a huge impact on development &#8220;for the rest of the year and likely beyond&#8221; following mass layoffs Uncertain roadmap. Image credit: Epic Games News by Fran Ruiz Contributor Published on March 25, 2026 1 comment Follow Fortnite Fortnite is one of the biggest games in the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,253],"class_list":["post-1846223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-eurogamer-net"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1846223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1846223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1846223\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1846223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1846223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1846223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}