Update – September 29, 1: 20 AM: In response to the recent wave of layoffs at Mediatonic, the renowned studio behind the hit game Fall Guys and owned by Epic Games, Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier clarified that while the studio has indeed faced significant staff reductions, rumors suggesting the complete closure of the studio are unfounded. While the layoffs are undoubtedly a challenging development, Mediatonic remains operational.
Original Story:
The world of gaming is fickle, especially when it comes to job security and workplace ethics. There’s never a holiday season that passes by without tragic news concerning another publisher laying off significant portions of their workforce. We’re not sure if it’s ever performance-based or something to do with corporate greed, but the reason notwithstanding, it stinks for those trying to provide for their families. Unfortunately, more layoffs happened earlier today regarding the developers of a much-loved series.
The bad news this time is, unfortunately for Fall Guys fans, as earlier today, acclaimed journalist Jason Schreier reported via X that Epic Games has laid off 16% of their employees, including some developers from Mediatonic, the studio behind Fall Guys. The timing of it isn’t surprising so much that it was from Epic, as their game divisions seem to be performing pretty well overall. Their Fornite empire is taking over gaming, with more and more celebrities joining by the day. Meanwhile, the storefront is there, but we haven’t seen anything that would cause people to be concerned.
Related: Fall Guys Season 4 Patch Notes: Fall Guys Creative Mode, Explained
What Went Wrong At Mediatonic?
The news that Mediatonic was being disbanded came from another Twitter user commenting on Jason Schreier’s initial report concerning the layoffs. Del Walker, senior character artist at the acclaimed Naughty Dog, made the distinction shortly after the news was posted. It was a shock to see that the team was completely laid off despite the massive success of their hit title. Fall Guys took the gaming world by storm when it was released in 2020, during a hard time in this world’s history.
We, along with many gamers, hope this is temporary and that the team finds a lovely home quickly within another studio. This leaves the question: What will happen regarding the future of Fall Guys? Last we checked, it’s still going strong, and this news has to be a big blow to the community that supports it daily. We await a response from the PR team at Epic that’ll explain the reasoning behind the sudden firings in their entirety.
Related: Fall Guys: How to Crossplay With Friends
It’ll also be interesting to see how developers who are using the Unreal Engine are feeling about the sudden lack of support for tools and potentially QA. It’s not a good idea to release talent that is related to two of the most essential products. In reality, it leaves everyone uneasy about how your company is performing and the viability of it sticking around for the long term. Most importantly, it leaves a lot of people without jobs, especially this close to the holiday season.
