Epic Games, the developer of the popular video game \u201cFortnite,\u201d is laying off more than 1,000 employees and cutting $500 million in costs.<\/p>\n
Chief Executive Tim Sweeney announced the cuts Tuesday morning in a message to employees. He said it has nothing to do with artificial intelligence and instead pointed to what he said was a lack of \u201cFortnite\u201d engagement last year. <\/p>\n
\u201cDespite Fortnite remaining one of the most successful games in the world, we\u2019ve had challenges delivering consistent Fortnite magic with every season,\u201d Sweeney said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The company\u2019s flagship game was first released in 2017. Since then, it\u2019s been a key part of internet culture \u2014 where character-specific dances became widespread trends and major musicians, such as Travis Scott and Ariana Grande, have hosted concerts in the virtual realm. <\/p>\n
But Epic has been slow to optimize the computer game for mobile play. A \u201cFortnite\u201d app was first introduced in 2018 but soon removed due to a legal battle against Apple and Google over app store practices.<\/a> Sweeney said the company is still in the \u201cearly stages of returning to mobile<\/a> and optimizing Fortnite for the world\u2019s billions of smartphones.\u201d<\/p>\n Many of Epic\u2019s woes also come from industrywide challenges such as \u201cslower growth, weaker spending, and tougher cost economics,\u201d Sweeney wrote. And Epic isn\u2019t the only one suffering. In recent years, gaming companies including Electronic Arts<\/a> and Microsoft\u2019s Xbox division<\/a> have all cut down their workforces.<\/p>\n