Epic Games had announced last week that it was going to lay off more than 1000 employees for, according to them, lower-than-anticipated player engagements in Fortnite and several other areas of game development. And since the announcement, dozens of employees including developers and staffs have posted on social media to make it known that they were affected by the layoffs by Epic Games and most tragically, one of them is going through a battle with terminal brain cancer.
In a social media post yesterday, Jenni Griffin has stated that her husband, programmer writer Michael (Mike) Prinke, was among the people who lost their jobs in the recent layoff. Michael is currently battling terminal brain cancer and had life insurance as a benefit as long he was part of Epic Games. But as he has lost his job, his benefit too, will go away cause his ailment will be seen as a “pre-existing-condition” by the insurance companies and he won’t be eligible for new coverage.
Griffin writes: “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,” she said. “How I will keep a roof over our heads. How I will protect our son and the life we built together. What will happen to our dogs?”
“Mike is not just a number. He is a father. A husband. A person deeply loved.”
She hopes her message reaches Epic Games, the company her husband had worked for many years and they might do something to protect him.
“We are running out of time, and I’m trying everything I can to protect my family while I still have him here with us,” she said, pleading for the message to be shared.
This shows a particularly dark aspect of the gaming industry as it’s turned into what it is today by the megacorporations and it’s pretty much the exact opposite of something that’s life affirming. The fact that Epic Games didn’t know about Michael’s condition and decided to fire him means the firings were done arbitrarily which is pretty alarming and if they indeed knew about him and still decided to dismiss him, then it’s absolutely damning. Hopefully the message reaches the company and they do the right thing and at least arrange for his life insurance which would help save a family.
