Source: Sascha Schuermann / Getty / Amazon Games
While gamers are enjoying what might be the most remarkable year in gaming history, the people behind the scenes are enduring massive layoffs. Amazon is the latest company to let workers go.
Spotted on The Verge, Amazon announced, via a memo sent to employees by the VP of Amazon Games, Christoph Hartmann, that it would cut 180 jobs in its gaming division and make “some” changes to its games initiative.
The changes will see Amazon shut down its Crown Twitch channel and shutter its Game Growth effort, which helps game developers market their products, while “refocusing” its work with the free games it offers through its Prime Gaming service.
“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,” Hartmann said in the memo. “But after further evaluation of our businesses, it became clear that we need to focus our resources and efforts to deliver great games to players now and in the future.”
Speaking on the free games that are a beloved benefit to Amazon Prime subscribers, “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,” Harmin added.
It’s A Spooky Time To Work In The Video Games Industry
These changes came after Amazon announced in April that over 100 staffers in Amazon’s games organization were let go.
This news joins the list of layoffs in the world of video games. Destiny 2 developer Bungie laid off dozens of staff, The Last of Us developer Naughty Dog cut developers in October, and Humble Games was also affected recently by layoffs.
Our thoughts are with all of the workers affected by these layoffs.
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Photo: Sascha Schuermann / Getty