Epic Games, developer of the wildly popular Fortnite, has become the subject of a damning investigation into the work environments in the video game industry.
According to Polygon, employees are coerced into working up to 100 hours per week and are expected to remain compliant throughout or face the risk of being laid off. Fortnite's explosion into popular culture transformed a relatively small game company into one of the largest in the industry virtually overnight, and anonymous sources have reported the environment at Epic has become poisonous and dangerous as a result.
Reportedly, a dozen employees from across various departments at Epic were interviewed about the culture at the company under the condition of anonymity, as Epic requires all employees to sign a non-disclosure agreement upon entering the company. Additionally, it's said management at Epic is prone to firing employees who speak out and question their current working conditions.
One source described the environment at Epic, particularly for those on the Fortnite team, as "a hard, grindy, crunchy life." For those at Epic, "[t]he crunch is constant." The nature of Fortnite as a live service game, with a steady stream of new content flowing in to keep players engaged, means there's always something being developed, often in a hurry.
This has led to sources reporting working for 70-100 hours a week in order to meet demands. While the company reportedly actively discourages forcing employees to work overtime, some are describing this as a facade. "I know some people who just refused to work weekends, and then we missed a deadline because their part of the package wasn’t completed, and they were fired," one source said. "It was the most aggressive schedule I’ve ever seen. And people got burnt out in all departments," declared another.
The report states that while there's widespread pressure to work far beyond normal hours, some at Epic have not experienced the grueling conditions of those on the Fortnite team. However, even those not directly affected are aware of the sacrifices many of their colleagues make to keep Fortnite at the pinnacle of modern video games.
The rise of Fortnite was meteoric, from a relatively unknown battle royale/survival game to one of the most popular games in the world. Nevertheless, it sounds as though this rise has come at the cost of Epic employees' mental health and work environment.
Epic joins other AAA game companies Activision and EA in having its punitive work practices exposed. One can only hope this leads to positive changes in the video game industry in the months and years to come.
Fortnite is available across multiple gaming platforms, including Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Windows, Nintendo Switch, macOS, iOS and Android devices.