Epic Games, the gaming giant behind Fortnite, is laying off 82 employees at its Bellevue, Wash.-based office, according to a WARN notice filed with Washington state regulators.
Epic announced Tuesday that it is laying off 1,000 employees across the company, or about 20% of its workforce, citing reduced engagement with Fortnite.
“This layoff, together with over $500 million of identified cost savings in contracting, marketing, and closing some open roles puts us in a more stable place,” Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said in the announcement. He cited challenges including tougher cost economics, slowing console sales, and competition “against other increasingly-engaging forms of entertainment.” He noted that the layoffs are not related to AI.
Epic previously laid off 39 employees in 2023 at its Bellevue office, which opened in 2012. It currently works out of Lincoln Square in downtown Bellevue. The company has 349 employees in the Seattle region, according to LinkedIn. Epic acquired Kirkland, Wash.-based codec creator RAD Game Tools in 2021.
“Market conditions today are the most extreme we’ve seen since those early days, with massive upheaval in the industry accompanied by massive opportunity for the companies that come out as winners on the other side,” Sweeney wrote in his announcement.
Several tech companies have cut staff in the Seattle area this year, including Amazon, Expedia, T-Mobile, Smartsheet, Atlassian, MicroVision, and others. Many corporations are slashing headcount to address pandemic-fueled corporate “bloat” while juggling economic uncertainty and impact from AI tools.
