Recently, Epic Games laid off many employees. Among those fired was Mike Prinkey.
His story has attracted particular attention from the Fortnite community after Mike's wife published it. She said that her husband is terminally ill, and now he is left without insurance:
Due to the dismissal, we lost not only a source of income, but also his life insurance. Since his illness is now considered a "pre-existing condition", he cannot get new insurance coverage. I will lose my husband... I also have to think about what kind of funeral I can organize. How can I keep a roof over our heads. How to protect our son and the life we built together. What will happen to our dogs. I sincerely believe that if those who made this decision realized the full human scale of the consequences [of the dismissal], they would not want such an outcome. Mike is not just a number in a report. He is a father. Husband. A person who is deeply loved. I am sharing this story in the hope that it will reach the right people.
The head of Epic Games began to be actively criticized online. Tim Sweeney responded — confirmed that Mike's family will be helped:
Epic has contacted this family and will help resolve the insurance issue. Medical information is strictly confidential, and it was not a factor in the decision to dismiss. We regret that we did not learn about this extremely painful situation in advance and could not deal with it earlier.