Epic devs discuss the shock of mass layoffs: 'We only had a slight hint that the company revenue wasn't doing well'

The 1,000 developers that Epic Games laid off in March were, in the words of CEO Tim Sweeney, of "once-in-a-lifetime" quality—and a website that compiles their resumes proves it.

The ex-Epic Awesome People List comprises 545 entries and shows just how wide and deep the layoffs cut. It hit young developers learning their trade and veterans with more than 25 years of experience: Epic cut animators, producers, programmers, HR managers and QA specialists. Among those gone are lead designers, lead artists, and Fortnite's balance director.

Scrolling through the list is a reminder that behind that massive headline figure are individuals with unique experience, now all looking for jobs in an already competitive market.

Latest Videos From

And it's clear from speaking to a couple of them that they weren't expecting it.

"The layoff was very sudden and we only had a slight hint that the company revenue wasn't doing well," says one developer, who asked to remain anonymous. Staff had been told in January that Fortnite revenue was down-–but it's "tough to predict" the success of future seasons, they said.

(Image credit: Epic Games)

Natalie Munoz, director of corporate communications at Epic told me that the company keeps "employees informed of how the business is performing at regular company and team meetings".

"It definitely came as a shock," says Hunter ErkenBrack, who worked at Epic for nearly a decade and was balance director when he left, overseeing a global team making design decisions in Fortnite's Battle Royale and Reload (he was also lead designer on Reload).

Keep up to date with the most important stories and the best deals, as picked by the PC Gamer team.

He said he was actually let go quietly a few months before the mass layoff, just ahead of the game's Simpsons mini season in November 2025. He lost his job "just months after a title promotion and one week before a well-planned four-week paid sabbatical that you earned for seven years of continuous service at the company," he says-–he was considering going to Japan with friends at that time.

"I never got a chance to use it or get it paid out … I got severance but I'm now looking to sell my house since most of the available jobs aren't remote," he says. Epic has said that affected staff would receive a severance package of at least four months of base pay, with more based on tenure, and that it was extending Epic-paid healthcare coverage.

I asked Epic whether there were additional rounds of layoffs in the six-to-nine months before March's announcement—Epic's Munoz said: "We did not conduct layoffs in the fall."

(Image credit: Epic)

It's easy to think of Epic as a monolith but both developers discuss the camaraderie within their smaller team. People genuinely cared about their work. "I have very fond memories … We had a small pod of five and we all became pretty close over the past two years. I will definitely miss working with them," says the anonymous developer.

For ErkenBrack, building the balance team was his fondest memory. "The old days of Fortnite were fun and chaotic in a stressful way of course but that team was my work family," says ErkenBrack.

"Joking with them as we 'saved Fortnite'"—from invincibility, invisibility, instant elimination bugs, and exploits—"is time I'll always remember and cherish. They were mostly unimpacted by layoffs at least. I've joked with them that if I was a sacrifice then I'm glad to make it for them since I'll eventually land on my feet somewhere."

I asked Munoz whether Epic had restructured to account for the loss of some of its most experienced staff. She told me that it had moved to a "product-led model" that brought development teams closer to publishers and that it still had "tenured leaders and a talented team in place to deliver awesome Fortnite experiences".

Scrolling through the list is a reminder that behind that massive headline figure are individuals with unique experience, now all looking for jobs in an already competitive market.

Both developers I speak to are still hunting for work, along with hundreds of others.

"I'm applying for all sorts of design director and lead designer roles. I figure I'll get one eventually or I'll start consulting," ErkenBrack says. "There aren't a lot of live-service design specialists like me which is a double-edged sword in this rough job market, with so many other unicorn candidates. I'm optimistic and feeling excited about my future despite everything happening that was out of my control."

LinkedIn is now flooded with posts from Epic developers—both seeking jobs and trying to help their former colleagues. "I had so many friends and ex-coworkers reach out to ask how I was doing and also they sent me lots of job possibilities," says the anonymous developer.

"The grapevine works so fast and people really care."

If you're a former Epic developer who's keen to tell their story, please email Samuel Horti at sphorti@gmail.com, or message him @SamuelHorti on X or Bluesky.