Tim Sweeney wants the world to know that the more than 1,000 workers laid off in the latest Epic Games downsizing are great hires.
This week, Epic let go of more than 1,000 employees, with Sweeney blaming a “downturn in Fortnite engagement” as well as “industry-wide challenges” and factors “unique to Epic” in a letter to staff. Today, he’s encouraging employers and recruiters to keep an eye out for resumes coming from the talented people he no longer employs.
In the coming days, employers will see a stream of resumes of once-in-a-lifetime quality folks. An important thing to understand is that Epic never lowered our hiring standards as we grew, and the layoff wasn’t a performance-based “rightsizing” as companies call it nowadays. It’s… https://t.co/3SvyWNC04kMarch 25, 2026
Of course, Sweeney offering sweeping referrals for his former employees is a nice gesture, but it’s a dubious compliment in the wake of one of the most brutal layoffs in recent months. The move also resulted in the deaths of three Fortnite game modes: Ballistic, Festival Battle Stage, and Rocket Racing, the latter of which was a key driver in Epic’s original push toward a multi-game metaverse.
It’s also worth noting that, as more and more developers lose their jobs, the pool of qualified applicants grows larger, making the scarcity of available jobs even tougher. Sweeney’s words aren’t meaningless, but they’re statistically less likely to result in an applicant’s success than they were, say, before Epic laid off 1,000 more employees.
Fortnite art lead behind iconic characters like Jonesy has been laid off by Epic Games, and fellow devs are paying tribute: “Fortnite looks like Fortnite because of you.”
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