Epic Games has come under fire in a damning new report claiming that its Fortnite teams face regular 70-hours-and-above working weeks in order to meet the phenomenally popular game’s gruelling, ongoing update schedule.
Fortnite Battle Royale rapidly found success after its launch in September 2017, and according to a report by Polygon, Epic’s leadership team remains focussed on ensuring Fortnite’s popularity holds for as long as possible – even as the game’s live service model and demanding patch schedule, intended to sustain momentum, takes its toll on staff.
“If a build went out into the wild and there was a negative reaction,” explained one source, “then someone at the top would say, ‘We need to change that’, and everyone would be pulled in from what they were doing, and people were told to cancel their plans, because they were going to crunch until this was done. It was never-ending. It’s great for supporting the community and for the public. But that comes at a cost.”
