Epic Video games has stated it is going to “clear up” the insurance coverage of a former Fortnite worker residing with terminal most cancers, following widespread criticism of the corporate’s resolution to put them off.
Mike Prinke, a programmer who had labored at Epic Video games for seven years, was one of many many employees members caught up in Epic Video 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 state of affairs shortly stoked additional fury from followers on the employees cuts, and has now prompted a response from Epic Video games boss Tim Sweeney, who stated the corporate was now “in touch with the household [to] clear up the insurance coverage for them.”
“My husband, Mike, was just lately laid off together with over 1,000 others at Epic Video games,” she wrote in a put up on Fb. “What makes this completely different for our household is that Mike is at present combating 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 shedding my husband… I am additionally dealing with the fact of what sort of funeral/burial I can afford. How I’ll hold a roof over our heads. How I’ll shield our son and the life we constructed collectively. What’s going to occur to our canines… Mike isn’t just a quantity. He’s a father. A husband. An individual deploy liked… We’re operating out of time, and I am attempting the whole lot I can to guard my household “
Responding to feedback on her put up, Prinke’s spouse Jenni stated she had been exploring “conversion or portability choices for all times insurance coverage” however that these have been costly, “to the tune of hundreds of {dollars} monthly.” Over on Twitter/X, quite a few Fortnite followers started sharing the state of affairs, which result in 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 by way of a put up on X/Twitter. “There’s excessive confidentiality round medical info and it was not an element on this layoff resolution. Sorry to everybody for not recognizing this terribly painful state of affairs and dealing with it upfront.”
Asserting the layoffs final week, Sweeney stated Epic Video games had reacted to a downturn in curiosity for Fortnite that started in 2025, although analysts informed IGN that fewer individuals taking part in the sport’s veteran battle royale was solely one in all its issues. The corporate has spent years combating expensive authorized battles with Apple and Google, whereas bankrolling the Epic Video 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 Video 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 near 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 Video games’ mass layoffs. “An vital factor to grasp is that Epic by no means lowered our hiring requirements as we grew, and the layoff wasn’t a performance-based “rightsizing” as firms name it these days,” he concluded. “It is a sound wager that anybody with Epic Video 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 [email protected] or discover him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social