Fortnite maker Epic Games announced on Tuesday that it is laying off 1,000 employees in an effort to cut costs. Among those included in the layoffs was Evan Kinney, a Principal Engineer at the American video game company.
In social media posts shared shortly after the news broke, Kinney expressed his bewilderment at being included in the layoffs, noting that he had been with the company “since the beginning” and had constantly been counted as crucial to the success of Fortnite.
His claim was backed by thousands of people who reacted to the news of Kinney’s layoff with shock and confusion. At least one person on X described him as the “backbone of the development team” at Epic Games.
(Also read: Fortnite maker lays off 1,000 employees. Read Epic Games CEO’s full memo)
“I’ve been there since the beginning”
In posts shared on LinkedIn and X, Evan Kinney said he had spent almost nine years at Epic and had received solid performance reviews each time. He said he was “shell-shocked” at being laid off as he had shipped many integral systems for Fortnite over the years, working late into the night and even on weekends.
{{/usCountry}}In posts shared on LinkedIn and X, Evan Kinney said he had spent almost nine years at Epic and had received solid performance reviews each time. He said he was “shell-shocked” at being laid off as he had shipped many integral systems for Fortnite over the years, working late into the night and even on weekends.
{{/usCountry}}“I’m still kind of shell-shocked and trying to figure everything out, but for some reason I was included in the layoffs at Epic today. Been there almost 9 years,” he wrote on LinkedIn.
Kinney, who rose from Senior Software Engineer to Principal Engineer, said he had regularly been praised by leadership for his performance.
“I’ve shipped so many integral systems for Fortnite/the engine itself and was constantly counted by leadership and my peers among the people most impactful to the success of our games. I've been there since the beginning. To say I'm confused is an understatement,” he wrote.
“I’ve done so much”
On X, he expressed similar sentiments while noting that he had gone above and beyond for Epic, the company that laid him off after nearly a decade.
Kinney said that even while recovering from pneumonia, he had spent the last week debugging the rivalry system. He claimed that in the last few days alone, several directors had appreciated his work.
The American developer recalled working late nights and over weekends to ship updates and crucial fixes.
“I have done so much for this company and our games. So many late nights. So many weekends. So many live events, and competitive events, and new features, and new seasons,” he wrote.
Kinney also pointed out that he had received positive feedback as he expressed bewilderment at being “thrown out” mercilessly. “Solid performance reviews every time, with multiple people mentioning how critical I am and what an impact I make across multiple teams. Just to be thrown out, I don’t get it,” he said.
None of his achievements seemed to count when Epic included him in the layoffs, which CEO Tim Sweeney blamed on a “downturn in Fortnite engagement since 2025”.