Epic Games has lost a second high-level executive in less than a month, as the director of publishing strategy Sergiy Galyonkin has left the company.
Galyonkin published a statement on his Twitter account announcing his departure, where he thanked chief executive officer Tim Sweeney and his colleagues at Epic, recounted launching Fortnite and its impact on the industry, before saying that Epic’s current direction is one where he says he is “not a good fit for this new version of Epic.”
While he doesn’t exactly say the word “metaverse,” it appears that Galyonkin is directly referencing the companies push towards the metaverse as a reason for his departure, particularly by saying Epic is becoming “a platform.”
“Now, Epic Games is on its way to transforming from a game developer, engine creator, and publisher into a platform – Epic 5.0. I am not a good fit for this new version of Epic; it requires people of a different kind.
I plan to remain in the gaming industry. I also hope to be more vocal now that I don’t have to worry about the PR department knocking on my DMs.”
Galyonkin’s departure also comes just after Epic laid off more than 800 people at once due to it “spending more money than we earn” according to Tim Sweeney, where Sweeney even specifically noted Epic’s spending on its metaverse push as part of where the money it could’ve had to keep those 800 plus people went.
As part of those layoffs, Epic owned Mediatonic, the team behind Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout took a huge hit, with a large number of the team reportedly being let go.
The other high-level executive to leave Epic in less than a month was the company’s chief creative officer, Donald Mustard, who retired, rather than leave to work elsewhere, like Galyonkin.