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Epic Games Lays Off Over 800 Employees as Apple Legal Battle Drags On
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He owns more than half the company, and Tencent owns 40%. These errors wouldn't happen in most public companies.
No one is making fun of those soon to be unemployed. Many of us have been there, some more than once. It’s a fact of life in the. Posted corporate world. The company is fair game as their greed got them here. I will neither stop poking the company nor feel bad for doing so.
It's the ego boys...Sweeney must worship at the Elon golden toilet that Trump sits upon. Hubris and ego. Watch it eat people up and spit them out.
Yeah, it’s a good deal on your/their end. No problem with that personally.
It just makes no sense on Epic’s end. They might as well have just kept everyone working/contributing for 6 months — unless they’re forecasting being even more broke in 12 months.
You’d think they would’ve learned from Apple vs Adobe regarding Flash
Well, it didn’t have to be this way, but Tim Sweeney, the wealthiest and biggest dick of the Triangle, wanted to become even more filthy rich by taking on Apple, thus biting the hand that initially fed him and gave him & Epic Games their big boost. Eight hundred of his employees now have to pay the price for his…dick-ness. Some of them are my neighbors.
Apologies to those who were let go, but your former boss is a jackass.
I don’t care about the epic vs Apple battle per se - but Sweeney really rubs me the wrong way and I think his efforts with EGS are bad for the industry by favoring developers over consumers (efforts like GoG are much more consumer friendly)
Sweeney is an Epic something-or-other. And he’s willing to do this to 800 people just to win the battle he started? They had Anti-Apple merch ready to send to influencers on the day they violated the App Store ToS. I think that Apple could budge a little on their App Store fees, but Sweeney went about this the wrong way. Here’s an idea, (I know this will sound nuts) try making a NEW game. Sell that. Hey, did you forget that you left Unreal Tournament as a pre-alpha for NINE years?
Epic Games, the company behind popular video game Fortnite, is laying off 830 employees or approximately 16 percent of its workforce. The layoffs come amid Epic's ongoing legal battle with Apple, which started way back in 2020.
Just this week, Epic Games asked the Supreme Court to hear the case, a request that follows two major losses and likely hundreds of thousands or more in legal fees. Epic Games has been trying to paint Apple as a monopolist, and it wants to be able to sell digital skins and other goods to Apple customers without having to pay a cut to Apple.
As a result of the legal dispute, Fortnite has been unavailable from Apple's App Stores for several years now, and those who want to play the game on the iPhone or iPad must seek alternate means to do so, such as web-based platforms.
Epic CEO Tim Sweeney in a memo sent out to employees and shared on the company's website said that it has been "spending way more money" than it earns to grow Fortnite, and other efforts to cut costs have "ended up far short of financial sustainability."
Sweeney says that layoffs are the only way to stabilize the company's finances. Employees will be provided with severance that includes six months of base pay and six months of paid healthcare.
As for the fight against Apple, Sweeney claims that Epic Games is taking steps to cut down on legal expenses, but will continue on with its legal battles so the "metaverse can thrive and bring opportunity to Epic and all other developers."
Article Link: Epic Games Lays Off Over 800 Employees as Apple Legal Battle Drags On
Epic used to be really cool.
Apple has enough money to keep this in legal limbo for as long as it takes… Epic needs to realize Apple provides the platform and users … why wouldn’t they want a cut
Yep, sad to see these things happen. But they happen all too often when egos come into play.
When Handango was a thing, the fee could go up to 7% of your sales.
When I heard that Apple was charging only 30%, I thought the journalist had misheard.
Let's say I build a store, with nice appointments, elegant lighting, and excellent service. The store has a high end clientele, I have great security in the parking lot and at the door, and it's in a high traffic area with lots of visibility.
You decide you want to sell a product you make in my store.
I provide the store, its service, and its employees, I've attracted great customers. Now, you want me to advertise and sell your product- but you also want to pocket 100% of the revenue from the sale of your item.
Tell me exactly why I should agree to that?
Unreal's not going anywhere. Even if Epic completely implodes, Unreal will be picked up by someone with deep pockets and the engine will continue to enjoy a long life.
I don't know you, so I don't know your experiences. From my perspective as someone who has run an organization of some significant size (it wasn't in the B but it was in the MM), my perspective on the matter is different than yours. Based on my practical knowledge, we can look at the math at a large-scale corporate level. If they are in a growth stage then they should have adequate funding. If they are in the revenue phase then they should have the profit. A management issue, getting caught off guard, making poor gambles, or likely a blend of all of them. But we should also cut them some slack as the entire gaming industry has been impacted. I am not sure if you are aware, but the layoffs from EPIC are not unique. Blizzard, Microsoft, Unity, Ubisoft...I mean if you look at the top game publishers you are going to have a harder time finding a company who HASN'T laid people off. Oh....and they have even less of their revenue (in some cases none) from the App Store.
If I am totally wrong, that's cool, like many people I take in the knowledge that I can learn, add it to the experiences I have, and try and make the best decisions possible. I think I am correct, I think I have made a good case for it, but if we still disagree, I am also ok with that.
Umm that’s the whole south already 😬
is it really that simple?? Wow smh
Free business information for Sweeney.
Your 12% cut? Raise it to 30%. I hear there’s a LOT of companies that find that a sustainable amount.
Who knew he’d be the one to prove the industry right?
Your 12% cut? Raise it to 30%. I hear there’s a LOT of companies that find that a sustainable amount.
Who knew he’d be the one to prove the industry right?