Epic Games has mentioned it can “clear up” the insurance coverage of a former Fortnite worker residing with terminal most cancers, following widespread criticism of the corporate’s determination to lay them off.
Mike Prinke, a programmer who had labored at Epic Games for seven years, was one of many many employees members caught up in Epic Games’ most up-to-date mass layoffs, which resulted in additional than 1,000 staff out of labor.
Prinke additionally has terminal mind most cancers, one thing his spouse Jenni has helped publicize on-line, following his lack of life insurance coverage. The scenario rapidly stoked additional fury from followers on the employees cuts, and has now prompted a response from Epic Games boss Tim Sweeney, who mentioned the corporate was now “in touch with the household [to] clear up the insurance coverage for them.”
“My husband, Mike, was lately laid off together with over 1,000 others at Epic Games,” she wrote in a put up on Facebook. “What makes this totally different for our household is that Mike is at the moment preventing terminal mind most cancers. Due to the layoff, we did not simply lose revenue — we misplaced his life insurance coverage. And since his situation is now thought of a pre-existing situation, he cannot get new protection.
“So now, as I face the fact of dropping my husband… I am additionally dealing with the fact of what kind of funeral/burial I can afford. How I’ll maintain a roof over our heads. How I’ll defend our son and the life we constructed collectively. What is going to occur to our canine… Mike isn’t just a quantity. He’s a father. A husband. An individual deploy beloved… We’re operating out of time, and I am attempting every thing I can to defend my household “
Responding to feedback on her put up, Prinke’s spouse Jenni mentioned she had been exploring “conversion or portability choices for all times insurance coverage” however that these had been costly, “to the tune of hundreds of {dollars} per 30 days.” Over on Twitter/X, quite a few Fortnite followers started sharing the scenario, which lead to Sweeney in the end responding.
“Epic is in touch with the household and can clear up the insurance coverage for them,” Sweeney wrote, responding to BackersGamesF through a post on X/Twitter. “There’s excessive confidentiality round medical info and it was not an element on this layoff determination. Sorry to everybody for not recognizing this terribly painful scenario and dealing with it upfront.”
Asserting the layoffs final week, Sweeney mentioned Epic Games had reacted to a downturn in curiosity for Fortnite that started in 2025, although analysts advised IGN that fewer folks taking part in the sport’s veteran battle royale was solely one in every of its issues. The corporate has spent years preventing pricey authorized battles with Apple and Google, whereas bankrolling the Epic Games Retailer because it makes an attempt to rival Steam. After which there’s the explosive development of Roblox, which Fortnite has now fallen far behind. Many followers really feel like it’s Epic Games’ personal employees which have paid the value, whereas those that stay on the firm say they merely do not know the way Fortnite will look later this yr and past with shut to 1 / 4 of the corporate’s employees gone.
Sweeney had beforehand commented on the layoffs to spotlight the standard of expertise that his firm had simply laid off, saying that “employers will see a stream of resumes of once-in-a-lifetime high quality people” following Epic Games’ mass layoffs. “An vital factor to perceive is that Epic by no means lowered our hiring requirements as we grew, and the layoff wasn’t a performance-based “rightsizing” as corporations name it these days,” he concluded. “It is a sound wager that anybody with Epic Games on their resume is within the prime few p.c of their self-discipline.”
Tom Phillips is IGN’s Information Editor. You’ll be able to attain Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or discover him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social