Tim Sweeney responded to a shocking firing that was part of the Fortnite layoffs.
Last week, Epic Games laid off 1,000 employees, citing a downturn in engagement, which of course reflected in not meeting revenue targets. This announcement came two weeks after they raised the prices for V-Bucks.
Over the weekend, we found out that Epic Games employee Mike Prinke was laid off while he had terminal cancer. We confirmed from Prinke’s LinkedIn that he worked in Epic Games since 2019.
Prinke’s wife posted on Facebook that his illness is considered a pre-existing condition. Because of this, they can’t get new coverage and may not even be able to pay for his funeral.
Tim said this on Twitter:
Epic is in contact with the family and will solve the insurance for them. There is high confidentiality around medical information and it was not a factor in this layoff decision.
Sorry to everyone for not recognizing this terribly painful situation and handling it in advance.
While all the attention is on Tim and Epic, we should also remember that layoffs have been going for four years now, and there are many other stories like this we don’t know.
