A fresh round of layoffs has reportedly hit Twitch just weeks before TwitchCon in Las Vegas and less than a year after mass layoffs at the streaming company.
Further layoffs at Twitch were first reported by Zach Bussey today on Twitter, who acknowledged this round was “significantly smaller” than the layoffs earlier this year but was still “unexpected.”
The timing of the announcement has caused a stir, as it has taken place just weeks before TwitchCon in Las Vegas gets underway, with the event beginning Friday, Oct. 20.
In March, Twitch announced mass layoffs at the Amazon-owned platform, with 400 employees departing after new CEO Dan Clancy replaced founding member Emmett Shear. Clancy stated that those layoffs were necessary to keep Twitch running long-term, amid growing competition in the streaming landscape from the likes of Kick and YouTube, but it seems they have not changed the picture.
The layoffs are the latest in a long list of gaming industry jobs to be hit, with news on the same day dropping that The Last of Us developer Naughty Dog had reportedly cut their staff and halted production on a multiplayer spin-off title.
On Oct. 2, esports organization Team SoloMid reportedly laid off more employees, after multiple staff cuts in 2022, while Worms and Overcooked developer Team17 reportedly cut 50 members of staff, mostly from the QA department. The esports and gaming winter is truly a cold one.
This is a developing story. This article will be updated when more information becomes available.
Published: Oct 3, 2023 11:33 am