BROOKLYN, NY – AUGUST 09: CEO of Epic Video games Tim Sweeney speaks onstage throughout Samsung Unpacked New York Metropolis at Barclays Middle on August 9, 2018 in Brooklyn Metropolis.
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Epic Video games on Thursday mentioned it is shedding 16% of its workforce, promoting its music platform Bandcamp and spining off most of its SuperAwesome companies.
In a memo the corporate shared on its web site, CEO Tim Sweeney mentioned about two-thirds of the job cuts might be “exterior of core growth,” so the corporate is chopping prices with out interrupting main plans. He mentioned Epic, which develops and publishes video video games like Fortnite, had been working to chop spending on issues like advertising and marketing and occasions, however “concluded that layoffs are the one manner” to achieve monetary stability.
“For some time now, we have been spending far more cash than we earn, investing within the subsequent evolution of Epic and rising Fortnite as a metaverse-inspired ecosystem for creators,” Sweeney wrote. “I had lengthy been optimistic that we may energy via this transition with out layoffs, however on reflection I see that this was unrealistic.”
Sweeney additionally introduced that Epic will promote its music platform Bandcamp, which it acquired final yr, to Songtradr, a music licensing platform.
Songtradr mentioned in a separate submit that it “will proceed to function Bandcamp as a market and music neighborhood with an artist-first income share.”
Sweeney mentioned Epic’s promoting enterprise for SuperAwesome, which gives kid-friendly companies, will turn out to be an unbiased firm below the SuperAwesome model.
The layoffs at Epic Video games are the newest in a rising listing of job cuts throughout tech trade, which has confronted slowing development and better rates of interest since early final yr.
Epic is privately held, with China’s Tencent proudly owning a big minority stake. The corporate was valued at over $30 billion in 2022.
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