The popularity of Fortnite is undeniably the biggest thing for Epic Games right now. However, the game’s explosive growth has led months of intense crunch for Epic Employees and contractors. Some workers reporting that they have felt extreme pressure to work grueling hours to maintain the success of Fortnite.
Polygon conducted many interviews over period of several months, and talked to many current and former employees say they regularly worked in excess of 70 hour weeks, while some reporting 100 hour weeks.
In a dozen interviews conducted by Polygon over a period of several months, current and former employees say they regularly worked in excess of 70-hour weeks, with some reporting 100-hour weeks. Contract staff in Epic’s quality assurance and customer service departments spoke of a stressful and hostile working environment in which working overtime — while officially voluntary — was an expected service to the company.
Polygon also talked to an unnamed employee who said the following,
I work an average 70 hours a week. There’s probably at least 50 or even 100 other people at Epic working those hours. I know people who pull 100-hour weeks. The company gives us unlimited time off, but it’s almost impossible to take the time. If I take time off, the workload falls on other people, and no one wants to be that guy. The biggest problem is that we’re patching all the time. The executives are focused on keeping Fortnite popular for as long as possible, especially with all the new competition that’s coming in.
While you may expect many studios to deny such reports, Polygon says that an Epic Games representative confirmed that 100 hour work weeks do indeed take place in the company.
People are working very hard on Fortnite and other Epic efforts. Extreme situations such as 100-hour work weeks are incredibly rare, and in those instances, we seek to immediately remedy them to avoid recurrence.
It clearly shows that Fortnite’s success is because of the employees who have worked for endless hours to keep the game relevant. With so much content being poured into it regularly over the course of an year and a half that that the game is live for, it seems that many employees have been working under a lot of stress and pressure.
What do you think of employees working intense hours over at Epic Games? Let us know in the comments below.
