Amazon Games hit with further layoffs
Amazon Games has confirmed the cuts of approximately 180 positions, marking the second time this year that layoffs have affected the e-commerce giant's gaming division.
The details:
The company is closing its Crown Twitch channel and Game Growth team, as first reported by Aftermath and later confirmed by Amazon, affecting 180 jobs in the division. The layoffs are part of a larger plan to refocus efforts on the Prime Gaming section of the larger Amazon Prime subscription service. “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,” Amazon Games VP Christoph Hartmann wrote in an email to employees. “With these changes in our business approach come changes to our resourcing, resulting in the elimination of just over 180 roles.”
Crown Channel, an official channel on Amazon's subsidiary Twitch, was launched in 2019 as the company’s attempt to connect more with the platform by offering traditional TV-style broadcasts. Despite several successful events and celebrity appearances, as well as the company claiming that it was one of the site's top ten entertainment channels, Bloomberg suggested that its viewership was artificially inflated due to low viewer engagement.
Amazon Games laid off approximately 100 employees in its San Diego studio, as well as its Game Growth and Prime Gaming teams, in April, citing a new "strategic focus" for the future. Outside of its gaming division, the company was also hit with widespread job losses, with over 17,000 positions cut at the start of the year, followed by another 9,000 in March.
More gaming news:
Remedy Entertainment has announced that it has changed the direction of its in-development free-to-play multiplayer PvE title, codenamed Vanguard, to become a "premium game with a strong, cooperative multiplayer component."
Antony Starr has confirmed that he will not be voicing The Boys' Homelander in Mortal Kombat 1. It's unclear who will play the role or why Starr isn't involved beyond his likeness.
