Twitch, the live streaming platform owned by Amazon, is preparing to lay off 35% of its workforce say sources.
The move could impact approximately 500 employees.
Go deeper with GlobalData
The anticipated layoffs are part of a broader trend of job reductions at the company and come as Twitch grapples with financial losses and a recent exodus of top executives.
Sources said the redundancies could be announced soon.
According to the company’s executives, operating a platform that supports 1.8 billion hours of live video content monthly incurs significant costs, despite access to Amazon’s infrastructure.
Twitch CEO Dan Clancy acknowledged the financial challenges in a December 2023 blog post, announcing the shutdown of operations in South Korea due to prohibitive expenses.
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By GlobalDataSources claim that Twitch has not been profitable for nine years since Amazon’s acquisition, despite a greater emphasis on ad revenue.
The final months of 2023 saw the departure of several key executives, including Twitch’s chief product officer, chief customer officer, chief content officer, and the chief revenue officer from Amazon’s Ads unit.
Clancy, who became CEO in March 2023, has been actively engaging with gaming celebrities on the platform to address their concerns, especially regarding Twitch’s advertising strategy.
Streamers have commended Clancy for his willingness to listen after years of feeling disconnected from the service.
Despite these efforts, Clancy has faced challenges in reducing financial losses.
Twitch executed two rounds of layoffs last year, eliminating over 400 jobs.
These were part of larger job cuts at Amazon, which included its most extensive corporate layoffs in 2022, totalling 27,000 positions across the company.
In the past few months, Amazon has also cut jobs across its gaming and music divisions.
