What's behind the Epic Games layoffs?
TO MAKE SURE THE CITY'S
NIGHTLIFE IS SAFE.
SO WE NOW KNOW A LITTLE OVER
200 AT THE GAMES. EMPLOYEES
AND KERRY WILL LOSE THEIR JOBS.
THIS IS ONE PIECE OF A MUCH
LARGER ROUND OF LAYOFFS AT THE
VIDEO GAME DEVELOPER 1000 JOB
CUTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY AND IT
FEELS LIKE AT THE GAMES DOES
POP UP IN THE NEWS A LOT.
IF YOU THINK SO. YOU'RE RIGHT.
LAWSUITS WITH GOOGLE AND APPLE
PUT HIM IN THE NEWS. THE
DEFUNCT KERRY TOWN CENTER
PROJECT INVESTMENT FROM
DIVISION II TO UNDERSTAND THE
LAYOFFS AND WHY WE GOT HERE.
WE NEED TO START WITH HOW WE
GOT HERE.
>> IT STARTED BACK IN 1991.
AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND.
BACK THEN AT THE GAMES WAS
POTOMAC COMPUTER SYSTEMS.
THEIR FIRST GAME WAS CALLED ZI
ZI. T KIND OF LOOKS LIKE MINE
CRAFT AT THE GRAND ON A
CALCULATOR IN 1992. FOUNDER TIM
SWEENEY. ONE OF THE MORE EPIC
NAME FOR THE COMPANY. AND HE
GOT IT. IT WASN'T UNTIL 1990,
92 WAS SHORTENED TO JUST EPIC
GAMES. THEY MAY DO KIND OF
GAMES BACK IN THE 90'S. JILL OF
THE JUNGLE, BRICKS SOLARWINDS
EPIC PINBALL AND UNREAL, WHICH
WAS THE GAME CHANGER. IF THE
LICENSE, THE SOFTWARE FOR
UNREAL TO OTHER DEVELOPERS TO
MAKE THEIR GAMES A RELATIVELY
NOVEL MOVE THAT MADE MILLIONS
IN 1999. THE COMPANY THEN MOVED
ITS HEADQUARTERS TO CARRY RIGHT
ON CROSSROADS BOULEVARD IN THE
MID 2. THOUSANDS EPIC HAD
ANOTHER HIT GEARS OF WAR
SERIES. THAT'S DONE 1 BILLION
DOLLARS IN SALES. BUT THAT GAME
DOESN'T EVEN COME CLOSE TO
EPIC'S BIGGEST SUCCESS FOR
TONIGHT. 350 MILLION WORLDWIDE
PLAYERS SINCE 2017 FORTNIGHT
HAS GENERATED. 42 BILLION
DOLLARS IN TOTAL REVENUE IN
TRILLIONS OF HOURS IN PUSHBACK.
GOOD TIMES. THEY'VE BEEN BOUGHT
THE COMPANY BEHIND GUITAR HERO
AND THE COMPANY BEHIND ROCKET
LEAGUE AND A TWENTY-TWENTY EPIC
BOUGHT KERRY TOWN CENTER
DEMOLISHING THE BUILDING READY
TO EXPAND THEIR HEADQUARTERS.
BUT THAT'S AS FAR AS THEY GOT
THAT LOT STILL SITS EMPTY.
NOTHING WAS EVER BUILT. THERE.
I THINK HE'S SEEN UPS AND DOWNS
OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS.
THEY SUED GOOGLE AND APPLE OVER
DISPUTES WITH THEIR DIGITAL
STORES. EPIC ONE AGAINST GOOGLE
BUT LOST AGAINST APPLE. THE
COMPANY LAID OFF HUNDREDS OF
EMPLOYEES IN 2023. THEN GOT
A BILLION DOLLAR INVESTMENT
FROM DISNEY IN 2024. BUT TODAY,
MORE LAYOFFS WITH THE COMPANY
SAYING WE HAVE TO MAKE MAJOR
CUTS TO KEEP THE COMPANY
FUNDED. AND THAT'S HOW WE GOT
>> SO THAT'S HOW WE GOT HERE.
BUT FIGURING OUT WHY, WHY EPIC
GAMES LIKE GOETHE 1000
EMPLOYEES? WELL, THAT'S A
LITTLE BIT MORE DIFFICULT.
LET'S LOOK BACK AT THE
COMPANY'S PRESS RELEASE THAT
THEY JUST SENT OUT AT SAYS SOME
OF THE CHALLENGES WE'RE FACING
OUR INDUSTRY WIDE CHALLENGES,
SLOWER GROWTH, WEAKER SPENDING.
>> CURRENT CONSULS SELLING LESS
AND THAT IS ALL TRUE. A RECENT
REPORT FROM VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY
ANALYST MATTHEW BALL FOUND A
SHARE OF AMERICANS PLAYING
VIDEO GAMES HAS FALLEN 4% SINCE
2019. THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
FOUND 18 TO 24 YEAR-OLDS.
WE'RE SPENDING ABOUT 25% LESS
ON VIDEO GAMES. AND JUST THIS
WEEK, NINTENDO CUT PRODUCTION
OF THE NEW SWITCH TO BECAUSE
OF WEAK SALES. THE
ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY HAS
NEVER BEEN MORE SEGMENTED.
AND THAT INCLUDES VIDEO GAMES.
YOU MIGHT ASK WHAT I DOES THAT
PLAY A ROLE BACK TO THAT PRESS
RELEASE FROM EPIC? IT SAYS
SINCE IT'S A THING NOW, I
SHOULD NOTE THAT THE LAYOFFS
AREN'T RELATED TO AI. SO THEY
SAY, BUT WE DO KNOW THAT VIDEO
GAME DEVELOPERS ARE USING AI
UBISOFT JUST RELEASED A NEW
GENERATIVE AI RESEARCH PROJECT
ING INCLUDING REAL-TIME VOICE
COMMANDS AND IN GAME AI TOOLS,
ROADBLOCKS. THEY LAUNCHED A IT
CAN CREATE STUFF IN THE GAME
BY ITSELF. ROADBLOCKS ALSO USES
AI TO MONITOR USER BEHAVIOR TO
CHECK FOR INAPPROPRIATE
LANGUAGE IN BAD BEHAVIOR.
BUT IT IS DIFFICULT FOR US TO
GO MUCH DEEPER THEN THAT WHEN
IT COMES TO EPIC GAMES, MUCH
DEEPER THAN THEIR PRESS
RELEASE. AND THAT'S BECAUSE
THEY ARE A PRIVATE COMPANY.
YOU KNOW, YOU CAN'T BUY THEIR
STOCK ON THE STOCK EXCHANGE.
THEY DON'T RELEASE THOSE
QUARTERLY REPORTS TO LET YOU
KNOW EVERYTHING THAT'S GOING
ON. BUT ALL THAT SAID, WE
SHOULD CARE ABOUT THE SUCCESS
OF THIS COMPANY. TIM SWEENEY
IS THE SECOND RICHEST MAN IN
NORTH CAROLINA. A STORY FROM
PC GAMER FOUND THAT HE USES A
CHUNK OF HIS WEALTH TO PRESERVE
NATURAL AREAS IN OUR STATE.
HE OWNS 50,000 ACRES OF FOREST
SAYING HE WANTS TO PERMANENTLY
CONSERVED THAT EPIC GAMES
EMPLOYS HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE IN
NORTH CAROLINA ARTISTS AND
ENGINEERS PROGRAMMERS
DESIGNERS. GOOD HIGH PAYING
JOBS. THE PEOPLE WHO WORK AT
THE GAMES BY HOLMES PAY
PROPERTY TAXES, SUPPORT LOCAL
BUSINESSES AND SEND THEIR KIDS
TO OUR SCHOOLS. THESE ARE THE
KINDS OF COMPANIES WE SHOULD
WANT IN OUR AREA. FUELING IT.
THE ECONOMY. I WANT TO KNOW
WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT ALL OF
THIS. SEND US AN E-MAIL.
07:00PM AT WRAL DOT COM.
WHAT ARE WE MISSING? OUR REPORT
ABOUT EPIC GAMES AND THESE
LAYOFFS AND THE OH SHIELD.
YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT OTHER
TOPICS DO YOU THINK WE SHOULD
COVER? TELL US WHAT'S ON YOUR