Epic Games CEO Declares Company is Financially Sound at Unreal Fest

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney announced at Unreal Fest 2024 that the company is now “financially sound,” after a challenging 2023.

Last year, the company (like many others) faced financial strain that led to the layoff of approximately 830 employees and significant restructuring efforts. These moves, along with high-profile legal battles, particularly with Apple and Google, placed substantial pressure on the firm.

In his keynote speech, Sweeney highlighted the company’s progress, attributing its recovery to strong performances from both Fortnite and the Epic Games Store.

Over the holiday period, Fortnite reportedly saw a peak of 110 million monthly active users, its highest ever. Similarly, the Epic Games Store reached 70 million monthly active users in September.

Despite the positive financial outlook, Sweeney acknowledged the difficult decisions that led to this point, including the layoffs and divestment from ventures like Bandcamp.

The CEO emphasized that the company had been investing heavily in new ventures, including expanding Fortnite into a broader creator-driven metaverse. However, he conceded that previous optimism about navigating this transition without layoffs had been unrealistic.

At the event, Steve Allison, General Manager of the Epic Games Store, underscored the platform’s success, reflecting on its ability to attract both developers and players.

The executive also mentioned Epic Games is now offering new incentives for developers to release their games on the store, including reduced Unreal Engine royalty fees.

While the company is actively working to attract developers with new incentives, it is also still contending with ongoing legal battles that could affect its market position.

Just last week, the company filed another complaint against Google and Samsung. The lawsuit centers around Samsung’s Auto Blocker feature, which Epic argues gives the Google Play Store an unfair advantage, limiting competition.