Fortnite maker Epic Games is laying off 16% of its workers.

Epic Games, which makes Fortnite one of the most successful video games in the world, is cutting 870 jobs, about 16% of its workforce.

It's also selling Bandcamp, the online music site it acquired last year.

In a memo to employees, Epic said it had tried to reduce costs but was still "spending far more money than we were making."

“We conclude that layoffs are the only option and that layoffs now and to this extent will stabilize our finances,” wrote CEO Tim Sweeney.

“Epic employees around the world have made ongoing efforts to reduce costs, including moving to net-zero settings and cutting operating expenses on things like marketing and events.”

“But we are still far from financially sustainable.”

said Bandcamp will join Songtradr, a music marketplace company that supports artists.

Bandcamp made a name for itself as a place where independent artists could get better returns on their music than streaming platforms. Therefore, Epic's acquisition in 2022 caused a stir, with some wondering how the two companies would fit together. .

This announcement suggests that these doubts were well founded.

Epic has offices around the world, including the UK.It is not yet known where the job cuts will take place.

But Mr Sweeney said the jobs would be axed "without impacting development or our core businesses".

He added that around two-thirds of layoffs occurred in teams “outside of core development.”

Epic is also known for its Unreal Engine gaming engine, which powers several hit titles including Fortnite and Gears of War.

Fortnite is very popular worldwide with around 400 million registered users.