Amazon Games announced that it is laying off nearly 200 workers as part of an internal reorganization. This downsizing reflects Amazon’s shifting focus from Amazon Games to Prime Gaming and is part of corporation-wide cost-cutting.
Amazon Games losing over 180 jobs
As Reuters reported, Amazon Games announced the downsizing on Monday. The company is closing its Game Growth and Crown Channel initiatives, terminating over 180 employees. The former was a program that helped small developers promote their games, while Crown Channel streamed gaming content on Twitch. However, the company is shutting them down to focus on Prime gaming, which offers free games to Amazon Prime subscribers.
Amazon Games vice president Christoph Hartmann announced the layoffs in a memo to employees.
“I know this is difficult news and that the impact will be felt widely.” Wrote Hartmann. “It never feels good to say goodbye to colleagues. This isn’t a decision the leadership team came to quickly; it was the result of extensive considerations and road mapping for our future.”
The Amazon executive expressed pride at what those teams were able to accomplish. However, “it became clear that we need focus our resources and efforts to deliver great games to players now and in the future.”
This new round of downsizing is the latest in a series of massive layoffs. The company, which went on a hiring spree during the pandemic, has terminated over 27,000 employees this year. Last week saw the firing of workers from Amazon’s podcasting and music streaming departments. This is also the Tomb Raider publisher’s second round of layoffs this year, having fired 100 workers in April.
