Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney issued a public apology on Sunday after the wife of a laid-off employee revealed that her husband — a programmer with terminal brain cancer — lost his life insurance in the company’s latest round of mass cuts.

Jenni Griffin shared the details in a Facebook post that quickly went viral. Her husband, Mike Prinke, was among more than 1,000 workers laid off on 24 March. Prinke has terminal brain cancer. According to Griffin, the layoff didn’t just cost the family income — it cost his life insurance. Because his cancer is now classified as a pre-existing condition, he cannot secure new coverage.

“So now, as I face the reality of losing my husband, I’m also facing the reality of what type of funeral/burial I can afford,” Griffin wrote. She included a photo of Prinke’s brain scan, captioned: “There are dozens of tumors actively growing, but this one is the most terrifying as it is aggressively taking over space in the front lobe.”

Griffin told Kotaku that Prinke’s condition was known to the company and his coworkers — it was not a secret.

Sweeney responded on X once the story started circulating. “Epic is in contact with the family and will solve the insurance for them,” he wrote. “There is high confidentiality around medical information, and it was not a factor in this layoff decision. Sorry to everyone for not recognizing this terribly painful situation and handling it in advance.”

The apology arrived only after Griffin’s post gained traction online.

Epic Games, which produces Fortnite — the world’s fourth-most-played PC game — reports annual profits of roughly $4 billion, according to The Guardian. Sweeney justified the layoffs by pointing to a downturn in Fortnite engagement that began in 2025, saying the company was “spending significantly more than we’re making.” Affected employees received at least four months of base pay and six months of continued healthcare coverage, according to an Epic spokesperson.

Griffin later confirmed that Epic had reached out and the family was in talks. Prinke has since been admitted to the ICU.

A company with billions in annual profits, a CEO worth a personal fortune, and a dying man who had to rely on his wife’s viral Facebook post to get basic human consideration. The contrast speaks for itself.

Sources