Epic Games Terminates Employee Battling Terminal Brain Cancer, Leaving Him Without Life Insurance

Last week, Epic Games revealed it was cutting over 1,000 jobs to ensure the company’s financial stability. Among those affected was Mike Prinke, a programmer and writer who had been with the Fortnite developer for nearly seven years. Over the weekend, his wife, Jenni Griffin, took to Facebook to share that Prinke is battling terminal brain cancer and that the layoffs resulted in the loss of his life insurance.

“My husband, Mike, was recently laid off along with over a thousand others at Epic Games,” she wrote. “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 since his condition is now classified as a pre-existing condition, he can’t obtain new coverage.”

Accompanying her post was a brain scan image showing aggressive growth in the frontal lobe. Griffin informed that Prinke had regular medical appointments and had previously taken paid leave, and his condition was known within the company. “Everyone he worked with knows,” she stated.

Her post quickly gained traction on Reddit and X, where prominent Fortnite news accounts began tagging Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney. “Are you happy now?” read one comment. Epic Games has not yet responded to requests for comment.

Griffin mentioned that the family is currently working to gather necessary documents and explore potential contingency clauses while reaching out to life insurance providers. She is also considering starting a GoFundMe campaign but is uncertain whether to wait for more information or act quickly.

“We should be spending every possible moment treasuring the time we have left as tumors are actively bleeding into Mike’s brain,” she wrote. “But instead, we have to rush to figure out life insurance as fast as possible. At any moment, Mike could experience his third ‘major event’ and become unresponsive. At that point, he won’t be able to manage all this.”

In his initial announcement about the layoffs, Sweeney stated that U.S. employees would receive six months of severance pay, accelerated stock options vesting, and extended healthcare coverage paid by Epic.

Many employee benefits packages include life insurance policies that provide financial support to families in the event of an untimely death. When these policies lapse, individuals can purchase life insurance directly from providers, but someone with Prinke’s medical condition would typically be ineligible. Life insurance payouts are crucial for covering funeral expenses and providing financial stability after losing a primary income.

“As I face the reality of losing my husband…I’m also confronting the reality of what kind of funeral or burial I can afford,” Griffin wrote. “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. I truly believe that if the people who made this decision understood the full human impact, they would not have intended this outcome.”

While much of Prinke’s work was internal, he also contributed to Epic’s “Inside Unreal” tutorials on YouTube, including a popular guide on gameplay abilities systems that has garnered hundreds of thousands of views. Griffin shared that Prinke had even sought specific treatments for his cancer to prevent memory loss, ensuring it wouldn’t interfere with his work. “He really gave everything to keep our family protected only to be laid off,” she wrote.

Griffin urged anyone connected to Epic Games to share her message with those who might be able to help and asked others to amplify it as much as possible. “Mike is not just a number. He is a father. A husband. A person deeply loved,” she wrote. “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.”