Amazon’s Twitch Laying Off More Than 500 Employees

A Twitch logo at Tokyo Game Show on Sept. 21, 2018. Martin Bureau/AFP via Getty Images

Live-streaming platform Twitch is set to slash roughly a third of its workforce as part of ongoing efforts to make the business more “sustainable” and “efficient.”

The video streaming platform—which is primarily used to stream video games and was acquired by Amazon in 2014—will cut just over 500 roles, or around 35 percent of its workforce, according to a blog post published on the company’s website on Jan. 10.

“As you all know, we have worked hard over the last year to run our business as sustainably as possible,” wrote Twitch CEO Dan Clancy in the post announcing the “difficult decision” to reduce the size of its workforce.

“Unfortunately, we still have work to do to rightsize our company, and I regret having to share that we are taking the painful step of reducing our headcount by just over 500 people across Twitch,” he continued. “This will be a very hard day. Our service exists to empower communities to create, together, and every single one of you has played a vital role in fostering our community and furthering that mission.”

Mr. Clancy said the San Francisco-based company paid out over $1 billion to streamers last year, but noted that “while the Twitch business remains strong, for some time now the organization has been sized based upon where we optimistically expect our business to be in 3 or more years, not where we’re at today.”

The CEO said going forward, the firm is sizing itself based on the current scale of its business and “conservative predictions” of its trajectory in the future.

Previous Twitch Layoffs

Twitch employees based in the United States, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, and Singapore will receive an email from Mr. Clancy notifying them they will no longer work for the company, along with “important details on everything we’re doing to support you through this transition,” he said.

Workers set to have their jobs eliminated will then be contacted by managers to discuss their severance packages via one-on-one meetings, he said.

Twitch employees who live outside of those countries will receive emails from Lauren Nunes, the company’s chief people officer, with further information regarding the layoff process, Mr. Clancy said.

“I want to close with my sincerest apology to everyone who is leaving Twitch. You are some of the most talented, committed, and creative people I have ever worked with. Thank you for everything you’ve done to help us build Twitch and foster our community,” the CEO concluded.

The layoffs come after Twitch announced in December that it was withdrawing from the South Korean market owing to high network fees. In March, the firm also said it would lay off 400 employees, citing the “current macroeconomic environment.”

Multiple senior executives have also departed the company in recent months, including one of its founders and former CEO, Emmett Shear, who stepped down in March 2023 following the birth of his first child.

Twitch made $2.8 billion in revenue in 2022, up from $2.675 billion in sales in 2021, Business Insider reported.

However, the platform has remained unprofitable in the nine years since it was founded, despite increasing advertisement spending, according to Fortune.

The Amazon Prime Video streaming app is seen on an iPad screen, in Baltimore on March 19, 2018. Patrick Semansky/AP Photo

Amazon Announces Job Cuts

Elsewhere on Wednesday, Amazon announced it will be slashing jobs in its Prime Video and its MGM Studios subsidiary.

Senior vice president of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, Mike Hopkins, wrote in an email to staff that the cuts were needed to “prioritize our investments for the long-term success of our business.”

“Throughout the past year, we’ve looked at nearly every aspect of our business with an eye towards improving our ability to deliver even more breakthrough movies, TV shows, and live sports in a personalized, easy-to-use entertainment experience for our global customers,” Mr. Hopkins told employees in the memo, CNBC reported.

“As a result, we’ve identified opportunities to reduce or discontinue investments in certain areas while increasing our investment and focus on content and product initiatives that deliver the most impact. As a result of these decisions, we will be eliminating several hundred roles across the Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios organization,” he concluded.

An Amazon spokesperson confirmed the layoffs to CNBC.

Amazon has laid off around 26,000 workers since late 2022 as part of cost-cutting measures.

The Epoch Times has contacted Amazon for further comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.