Amazon laying off 'just over' 180 employees in its gaming division

SAN FRANCISCO: Amazon is laying off over 180 employees in its games division, as the company shuts down its Crown channel that streams on Twitch, closes its Game Growth effort that helps game makers market their products, and “refocusing” the work it does with its free games offered through Prime Gaming.

According to a memo sent to employees by VP of Amazon Games, Christoph Hartmann, and seen by The Verge, Amazon is getting rid of its gaming content channel amid larger games layoffs.

“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,” Hartmann wrote in the memo.

In April this year, Amazon laid off more than 100 employees across its gaming divisions that include Prime Gaming, Game Growth and Amazon Games.

According to Hartmann, after the initial restructuring in April, “it became clear that we needed to focus our resources even more on the areas that are growing with the highest potential to drive our business forward”.

“With these changes in our business approach come changes to our resourcing, resulting in the elimination of just over 180 roles,” the Amazon executive informed.

The company is working to ensure all impacted employees are given the support they need on an individual level, including severance pay, outplacement services, health insurance benefits and more.

“I recognise that this is the second time this year that you are hearing about org-wide team changes and seeing colleagues go, so let me be very clear when I say this: I remain confident in our future,” Hartmann wrote.

“We are developing and publishing great games with high potential, our studio teams are growing, and our roadmap is bright,” the executive added.

In March, Amazon announced to lay off another 9,000 employees in Amazon Web Services (AWS), Twitch, advertising, and HR. Amazon initially eliminated 18,000 positions in January.