Live-service games are such a mess even Fortnite is struggling | The VergeSkip to main contentThe homepageThe VergeThe Verge logo.The VergeThe Verge logo.TechReviewsScienceEntertainmentAIPolicyHamburger Navigation ButtonThe homepageThe VergeThe Verge logo.Hamburger Navigation ButtonNavigation DrawerThe VergeThe Verge logo.Login / Sign UpcloseCloseSearchTechExpandAmazonAppleFacebookGoogleMicrosoftSamsungBusinessSee all techReviewsExpandSmart Home ReviewsPhone ReviewsTablet ReviewsHeadphone ReviewsSee all reviewsScienceExpandSpaceEnergyEnvironmentHealthSee all scienceEntertainmentExpandTV ShowsMoviesAudioSee all entertainmentAIExpandOpenAIAnthropicSee all AIPolicyExpandAntitrustPoliticsLawSecuritySee all policyGadgetsExpandLaptopsPhonesTVsHeadphonesSpeakersWearablesSee all gadgetsVerge ShoppingExpandBuying GuidesDealsGift GuidesSee all shoppingGamingExpandXboxPlayStationNintendoSee all gamingStreamingExpandDisneyHBONetflixYouTubeCreatorsSee all streamingTransportationExpandElectric CarsAutonomous CarsRide-sharingScootersSee all transportationFeaturesVerge VideoExpandTikTokYouTubeInstagramPodcastsExpandDecoderThe VergecastVersion HistoryNewslettersArchivesStoreVerge Product UpdatesSubscribeFacebookThreadsInstagramYoutubeRSSThe VergeThe Verge logo.Live-service games are such a mess even Fortnite is strugglingComments DrawerCommentsLoading commentsGetting the conversation ready...GamingCloseGamingPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All GamingEntertainmentCloseEntertainmentPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All EntertainmentReportCloseReportPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All ReportLive-service games are such a mess even Fortnite is strugglingIf the poster child for live-service games is making cuts, what hope does anyone have?If the poster child for live-service games is making cuts, what hope does anyone have?by Andrew WebsterCloseAndrew WebsterSenior entertainment editorPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All by Andrew WebsterMar 25, 2026, 3:22 PM UTCLinkShareGiftImage: Epic GamesAndrew WebsterCloseAndrew WebsterPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All by Andrew Webster is an entertainment editor covering streaming, virtual worlds, and every single Pokémon video game. Andrew joined The Verge in 2012, writing over 4,000 stories.For years, major game publishers and developers have been chasing a particular north star: Fortnite. With its internet-shaking live events and copious celebrity cameos, Epic’s battle royale shooter became the epitome of what a live-service game could be, one that reached a level of cultural ubiquity that few other entertainment products could match while also raking in all kinds of money. And much of the games industry followed suit in an attempt to get a Fortnite-like cash cow of their own.The results were disastrous. The biggest live-service games soaked up all of players’ time and money, leaving everyone else to fight for scraps. Layoffs, game cancellations, and studio closures followed. Now it turns out even Fortnite, the biggest name in the space, is struggling. Live-service games are an even bigger mess than I thought.Yesterday Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney announced that the company was cutting more than 1,000 jobs (this came just three years after 830 jobs were cut). A number of reasons were given for the layoffs, but the most surprising was the current state of Fortnite. “The downturn in Fortnite engagement that started in 2025 means we’re spending significantly more than we’re making, and we have to make major cuts to keep the company funded,” Sweeney explained. He added that “despite Fortnite remaining one of the most successful games in the world, we’ve had challenges delivering consistent Fortnite magic with every season.”RelatedLive-service games are a messMarathon is in a sprintThe very thing that has made Fortnite such a success and the biggest player in the space is also what has made it so difficult to maintain. It’s a huge game, one that is constantly updated with new content, and that costs a lot of money to keep going. It’s not that Fortnite isn’t popular (it remains one of the biggest games in the world on a yearly basis) and it’s not that Epic doesn’t make money (analyst firm Statista estimated that Epic brought in more than $6 billion in revenue last year) — it’s that at the scale of Fortnite, even that is apparently not enough to make the game sustainable.What this really means is that for the last few years, video game companies have been chasing a goal that is impossible to achieve. There have been some obvious live-service failures like Concord, Highguard, and FBC: Firebreak that simply weren’t popular enough to keep going. But the real problem is that even when a game is successful, it seems like it can never be successful enough because live-service games are so demanding. It’s not just Fortnite. Battlefield 6 was deemed a hit at launch, and EA invested heavily to make that happen, with four of the publisher’s major studios working on the game. EA called the game “a record-breaking success, shattering long-standing records for the Battlefield franchise.” And yet, the studios behind that success were still hit with layoffs earlier this month.So what comes next? Fortnite is a hungry maw that’s expensive to feed, and now Epic will need to do it with an even smaller team. Perhaps the plan is to be more focused; along with the layoffs, Epic also announced that it was shutting down a handful of Fortnite’s game modes. It also previously raised prices because “the cost of running Fortnite has gone up a lot.” In his post announcing the layoffs, Sweeney said that moving forward the company needed to “build awesome Fortnite experiences with fresh seasonal content, gameplay, story, and live events.”That sounds a lot like how Fortnite already operated. Only now it has to get done with 1,000 fewer people, including a number of long-term developers who helped shape the game, like design director Christopher Pope and character designer Vitaliy Naymushin. That sounds like a near-impossible task. In a post on X, Fortnite gameplay producer Robby Williams said that “our teams will have to pick up the pieces and try to keep moving forward but we cannot even fully understand what kind of impacts this will have on the game for the rest of the year and likely beyond.”The best-case scenario is that the layoffs at Epic serve as something of a wake-up call for the industry. Previous studio closures and game shutdowns didn’t do much to slow down the release of new live-service games; Sony and Bungie just had a splashy launch for the extraction shooter Marathon, for example. But it’s clear now that live-service games, at least at the size and scale of something like Fortnite, are not a sustainable venture. If even the biggest game is struggling, there’s no longer much of a goal to chase after.Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.Andrew WebsterCloseAndrew WebsterSenior entertainment editorPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All by Andrew WebsterAnalysisCloseAnalysisPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All AnalysisEntertainmentCloseEntertainmentPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All EntertainmentFortniteCloseFortnitePosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All FortniteGamingCloseGamingPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All GamingReportCloseReportPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.FollowFollowSee All ReportMost PopularMost PopularNvidia CEO Jensen Huang says ‘I think we’ve achieved AGI’Welp, I bought an iPhone againOpenAI just gave up on Sora and its billion-dollar Disney dealDonut Lab’s solid-state battery could barely hold a charge after getting damagedAyaneo says selling its Windows gaming handheld ‘is no longer sustainable’The Verge DailyA free daily digest of the news that matters most.Email (required)Sign UpBy submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice. 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Live-service games are currently experiencing a significant level of instability, even the overwhelmingly successful Fortnite is now grappling with substantial challenges. This situation highlights a deeply problematic trend within the gaming industry, one that has resulted in considerable disruption and financial losses. Andrew Webster’s reporting details Epic Games’ recent decision to implement a workforce reduction of over 1,000 employees, a move directly attributed to the downturn in Fortnite engagement. This engagement decline began in 2025, leading to a situation where Epic is spending more resources than it’s generating through the game, necessitating these drastic cuts. The underlying issue, as Webster articulates, is that the pursuit of a “Fortnite-like” model—characterized by constant updates, celebrity integrations, and a massive player base—has proven unsustainable for many developers.

For years, numerous game publishers attempted to replicate Fortnite’s formula, resulting in a deluge of live-service titles that ultimately failed to maintain sufficient player engagement and revenue. Examples such as Concord, Highguard, and FBC: Firebreak demonstrate the difficulties inherent in sustaining a live-service model, particularly when compared to the scale and ongoing investment required by a title like Fortnite. Even a commercially successful title like Battlefield 6, supported by multiple EA studios, faced layoffs due to unmet expectations and the inherent challenges of maintaining a competitive live-service environment.

The core problem lies in the extraordinarily demanding nature of live-service games. These titles require a continuous stream of content, regular updates, and ongoing development – a resource-intensive undertaking that, if not consistently translated into substantial revenue, quickly becomes financially unsustainable. The scale of Fortnite, with its global player base and constant evolution, amplifies this challenge exponentially. The pressure to deliver “Fortnite magic” with every season, as Sweeney put it, is a nearly impossible burden, especially when compounded by a reduced workforce.

Epic’s response, including price increases and the winding down of certain game modes, reflects a strategic readjustment. The company is attempting to consolidate its efforts, focusing on fresh seasonal content, gameplay, story, and live events as highlighted by Sweeney. However, this approach is predicated on working with a considerably smaller team, a significant constraint given the game’s existing complexity and the loss of experienced developers like Christopher Pope and Vitaliy Naymushin. The long-term implications of these layoffs are considerable, potentially impacting the quality and pace of future Fortnite updates.

The situation underscores a broader industry-wide reckoning. The over-investment in live-service models, fueled by the initial success of Fortnite, has created a landscape where even dominant titles struggle to maintain profitability. This reality serves as a cautionary tale for other publishers and developers seeking to emulate Epic’s model. Webster’s article suggests that this crisis may represent a necessary correction, potentially leading to a more sustainable and diverse approach to game development. Ultimately, the struggles of Fortnite now offer a significant indication that the ‘Fortnite-like’ cash cow may be a fantasy rather than a viable long-term business strategy within the industry.