Amazon is conducting a mass Twitch layoff, which will affect over 30% of the remaining workforce of the popular streaming platform. This is actually not a good start for the company since 2024 is just starting.
However, Amazon already did multiple layoffs in 2023. Last year, Amazon terminated over 400 Twitch employees after Emmett Shear, the former CEO of the platform, was replaced by Dan Clancy. After those terminations, another batch of 180 employees were laid off. Now, Amazon is expected to lay off more than 500 workers. Affected staff will be informed before January ends.
Amazon Twitch Layoff 2024: 35% Of Workforce To Face Termination
A picture taken at the Tokyo Game Show on September 21, 2018, shows the logo of the VOD and streaming video games company Twitch.
According to IGN's latest report, Twitch's remaining workforce could be reduced by up to 35% if Amazon really pushes its reported mass layoff.
Experts said that the layoffs are being conducted by Amazon because of concerns over revenue losses, as well as the departure of numerous top executives.
There's no denying that Twitch is one of the most popular streaming platforms, especially for gaming content.
Tech Crunch reported that the online platform that Amazon acquired experienced a drastic increase in users ever since the global COVID-19 pandemic began.
Although this is the case, Twitch is still struggling to turn its high numbers of viewers and users into profits. Twitch is not the only company in the gaming industry that terminates employees.
Others include Unity Software, which recently announced that it was laying off 25% of its workforce as part of its company reset effort.
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Struggles of Twitch
This illustration picture taken on July 24, 2019 in Paris shows the US live streaming video platform Twitch logo application on the screen of a tablet.
There's no denying that the latest mass layoff of Amazon for its Twitch platform is a heavy blow to the struggling streaming platform. Before 2024 began, Twitch experienced various challenges that really tested its foundation as a streaming service provider.
One of these was when Amazon's Twitch closed its Game Growth group, which was specifically established to help gaming creators market themselves.
Another problem that Twitch encountered was when it had its closure plans in South Korea. For those who are unaware of this issue, the closure of Twitch in SoKor is a big deal since the Asian country is one of the largest e-sports markets in the world.
Twitch said that it is planning to shut down its service in South Korea as early as February. The streaming platform explained that it needs to do this because of prohibitively expensive network fees imposed by SoKor.
"Twitch has been operating in Korea at a significant loss, and unfortunately there is no pathway forward for our business to run more sustainably in that country," said Twitch on December 5, 2023, via its official blog post.
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