Epic Games Promises to "Solve" Life Insurance for Laid-Off Employee With Terminal Brain Cancer

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has said the company is now working directly with the family of Mike Prinke, a programmer and technical writer who spent seven years at the studio before being swept up in the recent mass layoffs that put over 1,000 people out of work. Prinke is fighting terminal brain cancer. And when he lost his job, he lost his life insurance along with it.

His wife, Jenni Griffin, went public on Facebook after the layoff, spelling out what that really means for their family.

"My husband, Mike, was recently laid off along with over 1,000 others at Epic Games. What makes this different for our family is that Mike is currently fighting terminal brain cancer. Because of the layoff, we didn't just lose income — we lost his life insurance. And because his condition is now considered a pre-existing condition, he can't get new coverage."

She went on: "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. How I will keep a roof over our heads. How I will protect our son and the life we built together."

It's the sort of post that stops you mid-scroll. And it did. The message spread fast across Reddit and X, with large Fortnite news accounts tagging Sweeney directly. One post, viewed by nearly 1.9 million people, simply read: "ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?"

Sweeney responded on 29 March. "Epic is in contact with the family and will solve the insurance for them. 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."

What Made This Worse

According to Griffin's interview with Kotaku, Prinke's condition was no secret within the studio. He had frequent medical appointments and had previously taken paid leave. He'd even pursued specific treatments to prevent memory loss so his work performance wouldn't suffer. "Everyone he worked with knows," she told them. "He really gave everything to keep our family protected only to be laid off."

The family had already looked into keeping some form of coverage. Griffin said she explored conversion and portability options for the life insurance policy, but found those routes ran "to the tune of thousands of dollars per month" — hardly viable without a stable income. Epic's severance package for US employees included at least four months of base pay, six months of paid healthcare coverage, and accelerated stock options, but life insurance was not part of it.

"We should be spending every possible moment treasuring the time we have left as tumors are actively bleeding into Mike's brain," Griffin wrote. "But instea