The Fortnite layoff included an artist who designed Jonesy

Epic Games lays off over 1,000 employees, and it was shocking to learn that Jonesy's creator was among them Fortnite fans. Fortnite launched the Battle Royale game mode in 2017 due to the rise in popularity of the genre and saw immediate success. Although Save the World was intended to be the main mode, Battle Royale quickly overtook it and became the developer's focus as it was the game's primary source of players and subsequently revenue. As the years passed, Fortnite he continued to grow and reached incredible heights. The game collaborated with bigger and bigger names and franchises, and the number of players reached record after record, making the battle royale a global phenomenon.

Gaming has become an increasingly popular hobby over the years. As a result, the market is incredibly competitive at this point, and even free-to-play games can struggle to attract the interest of potential players. And even if it does, it may have trouble keeping players engaged for long periods of time. Chapter 7 Season 2 is Fortnite36th full season. While some fans keep coming back to the game after such a long time, many don't spend that many hours on it. Players have complained that Epic Games is too focused on co-op these days, new Fortnite the skins aren't as exciting as the original designs, the plot has become too complicated to follow, and the themes have been reused too many times and become stale. Also, battle royales are not as popular as they were in 2017.

Fortnite is officially shutting down 3 game modes

Following the big layoff announcement at Epic Games, Fortnite confirms that three different game modes are officially shutting down.

Fortnite Fires Jonesy Character Artist

Epic Games is forcing a Fortnite cheater to issue a public apology.

Regardless of the various factors that may have caused players to lose interest Fortnitethe numbers are falling. Tim Sweeney, the founder of Epic Games, announced that at this point the company was spending more than it was making, and this led to massive layoffs, including Vitaliy Naymushin, the artist who created Jonesy and several other well-known characters in Fortnite. Naymushin had been with Epic Games since January 2015 and was fired in March 2026 after 11 years of service. According to his LinkedIn profile, Naymushin “created most of the original cast of characters” in Fortnite. Jonesy and Ramirez stand out because they were the face Fortnite from day one, but Penny and Kyle, the familiar heroes of Save the World, are some of his other memorable creations.

Vitaliy Naymushin's original characters

The Joneses
Ramírez
Penny
Kyle

The players were shocked to learn that such a prominent artist in FortniteDevelopment was discontinued after accompanying the game from pre-launch to Chapter 7 of Season 2. Mike Jones, the lead game designer who introduced key features such as tactical suspension, stamina, gliding, mantling, and obstacles, was also let go after eight years with Epic. Dozens of essential ones Fortnite devs left the company as part of the Epic Games layoffs. Co-workers have launched a Google Form listing all those affected by the layoffs to help them find work in their areas of expertise.

Players mourn alongside former staff and current staff who have lost many on their work teams. Many are worried about the direction Epic Games is going as it has laid off a fifth of its workforce. Recently, Epic Games announced that they will be making adjustments to V-Buck packs Fortnite and by changing the prices of his tickets. As a result, many fans are boycotting Epic Games by not buying V-Bucks or playing the new season. It is unknown if this will change, but at least it shows how unhappy fans are with the recent marketing and management decisions of Epic Games.