If you’re reading this, you probably know two things. One, this year has been insane for the video game industry with the number of stellar titles that have come out this year. Two, this year has also been one of the worst in the industry with the number of layoffs that have occurred throughout the year. Layoffs impacted Amazon earlier this year with over 100 employees impacted across its gaming division. Today, Amazon confirmed more layoffs within the division with 180 positions getting eliminated.
The layoffs affected the entirety of Crown Channel, an Amazon-backed Twitch channel and the Game Growth team. According to two sources with knowledge of the layoffs, Amazon has a larger goal of refocusing efforts around Prime Gaming.
“We’ve listened to our customers and we know delivering free games every month is what they want most, so we are refining our Prime benefit to increase our focus there. With these changes in our business approach come changes to our resourcing, resulting in the elimination of just over 180 roles,” wrote Christoph Hartmann, VP of Amazon Games, in an email to employees.
“I know this is difficult news and that the impact will be felt widely,” Hartmann said. “It never feels good to say goodbye to colleagues. This isn’t a decision the leadership team came to quickly; it was the result of extensive considerations and road mapping for our future. We are proud of the work the teams have been doing, pushing into new areas with weekly content on Crown Channel, and finding more ways to help publishers reach new audiences with Game Growth. But after further evaluation of our businesses, it became clear that we need focus our resources and efforts to deliver great games to players now and in the future.”