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Earlier today, Epic Games laid off around 16% of its employees, and rumors had started that this meant Fall Guys developer Mediatonic had been completely closed down. Epic has now released a statement that those rumors were “false”, but it is clear the developer has been hit heavily by today’s move.
Many employees who were affected by today’s layoffs have taken to social media to vent their frustration and look for further employment. Murder By Numbers game director Ed Fear was “one of the people affected by the layoffs today at Epic” and said he was “absolutely devastated to leave behind so many amazing Mediatonic colleagues who I loved.” He later posted the above image that was created by an anonymous colleague. Other roles lost during the layoffs include Fall Guys level designers, video editors, video producers, and artists.
Despite the numerous posts on social media, earlier reports that all Mediatonic employees had been laid off appear to have been incorrect. In a statement to Kotaku, an Epic Games spokesperson called these reports “false” and pointed to an earlier email from Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney that promised the company would continue to invest in Fall Guys. Fortnite and Rocket League will also continue to receive support.
Mediatonic became an Epic Games developer back in March 2021. The agreement meant that while console versions of the game were unaffected, Fall Guys was eventually removed from Steam to become exclusive to the Epic Games Store. A year later in June 2022, the game took on its current free-to-play model akin to that sported by Epic’s runaway success Fortnite.
The layoffs come just a day after Fall Guys received its latest Fall Force update, with more features added for Fall Guys Creative and a handful of brand new Rounds that were due to be released over the next couple of weeks. There is no word on whether these rounds will continue to be released as scheduled.