Yesterday, it was announced that Fortnite developer Epic Games is laying off over 1,000 employees, and it's now come to light that one of those affected is the character art director who created the model for Jonesy, easily the most iconic and recognizable character in the battle royale.
Vitaliy Naymushin has worked at Epic Games for over 11 years, and you need only look at his Artstation page to see what an impact he's had on Fortnite, with models for notable characters like Ramirez and a "female constructor" we'd later know as Penny. Most importantly, shared in July 2017, is the "the Male Soldier model I created for Fortnite" – Jonesy – based on concept art by principal concept artist Ben Shafer.
Per his LinkedIn page, dating back to 2015 when he was a senior character artist, Naymushin "established the 3d style for Fortnite characters," and "created majority of the original cast of characters (Jonesy, Ramirez, Penny etc)," but now, he's looking for work.
"Well this is weird," he begins on LinkedIn. "After 11 years I find that I no longer work at Epic. It's been a wild ride, lots of ups and downs. Seeing Fortnite from pre launch to today and being a part of making that happen was an experience of a lifetime."
He acknowledges that there are "lots of similar posts out there" from other affected employees, adding: "I hope that everyone impacted by the layoff lands on their feet." Naymushin extends his wishes to those still working at the company, too: "Best of luck to all the folks remaining at Epic."
Fellow Epic Games devs have been wishing Naymushin well, too. "Fortnite looks like Fortnite because of you Vitaliy," comments creative cinematic director Gavin Moran, who's "sorry to hear" that the art lead is "no longer at Epic."
"It's been so awesome to work with you," writes aforementioned Jonesy concept artist Shafer. "I can't believe you got swept up in this. You were like the glue for our team. Appreciate you man and you will be missed big time! Thanks for everything."
"You're an amazing leader and truly a legend to the games industry," says Epic art director Dakota Sager-Leonard. "I'm so sorry you were affected. Wishing you all the best moving forward, you've made a huge impact to Fortnite and I know you will continue to do incredible things wherever you go."
Epic kills 3 Fortnite modes amid mass layoffs, including the Rocket League devs' Mario Kart-like which helped kick off the multi-game metaverse era to begin with.
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