It seems that the situation at Epic Games is not the most rosy right now: employees are under pressure, they are forced to work overtime. And all because Fortnite became popular too quickly.
According to Polygon, twelve Epic Games employees (which include both current and former employees) reported that they "regularly worked more than 70 hours a week," with some talking about 100-hour workweeks. Overtime was practically mandatory, because it was impossible to meet the deadlines otherwise. βI know some people who just refused to work weekends and then we missed a deadline because their part of the package wasnβt completed and they got fired,β another source said.
Even in other departments, the popularity of Fortnite has forced employees to take on more work. "From maybe 20 to 40 requests a day, we've gone up to about 3000 requests a day," a customer support source said. Epic Games' response to the heavy workload has been to recruit new employees. βIt all happened so quickly. Literally one day we were few. The next day: βHey, by the way, now you have another 50 people on this shift who have absolutely no training,β the source said.
However, this solution did not help. Even with more developers and contractors, Epic Games continues to run into problems. "One superior said, 'Just hire more bodies.' That's what they call contractors: bodies. And when we're done with them, we can just get rid of them. They can be replaced with fresh people [who do not show dissatisfaction],β the source said.
Fortnite is constantly being updated with new modes, items, gameplay options, and locations. The fast pace of development also means that these changes need to be tested. Prior to Fortnite, the company was in the process of downsizing its QA department in favor of an automated system, but those plans were put on hold after the game became a hit. βWe usually worked 50- or 60-hour weeks, and sometimes more than 70 hours,β said one tester.
Epic Games has not yet commented on the information from Polygon.
Source: 3dnews.ru