- Twitch is laying off 500 employees from its massive workforce.
- The CEO claims the company has excess employees and needs to become more sustainable.
- In a live stream, he stated that Twitch is still not profitable.
The gaming industry is once again going through a new wave of layoffs. Among those impacted, Twitch is one of the biggest names, letting go of around 500 employees, 35% of its workforce.
Following this announcement, CEO Dan Clancy hosted a short stream focused on questions and answers. During this stream, he revealed that Twitch is not yet profitable, leading to this decision.
Why it matters: Twitch has millions of monthly viewers and is considered a major part of modern gaming culture.
Even after dominating the livestreaming industry Twitch is still not profitable confirmed by their CEO
"We aren't profitable at this point, Amazon has been extremely supportive of Twitch" pic.twitter.com/tzDaSmVPrH
— Jake Lucky (@JakeSucky) January 11, 2024
According to the CEO, the company seeks to become sustainable, and this is the leading cause of the layoffs. He explained that Twitch’s uncontrollable expansion in recent years also played a part in this decision.
During the peak of COVID-19, gaming soared to new heights, and so did Twitch. Streamers and viewers were more invested in the platform than before, leading to a surge in new employees to cope with the newfound interest.
The CEO pointed out that the workforce needed to be cut as it grew out of control, acknowledging the emotional implications of such announcements. He further explained that this very expansion is the reason for Twitch losing money.
However, Amazon’s backing has kept the platform on its feet. Dan Clancy said:
“I’ll be blunt. We aren’t profitable at this point.”
Despite the heartbreaking news, this decision is nothing out of the ordinary for a major tech company. Over the last year, tech workers faced layoffs industry-wide, with Epic Games letting go of about 830 members of its staff.
Still, it is fair to say the platform has no rivals in the gaming industry. While the likes of YouTube and Mixer have tried to push for game streaming in recent years, neither has been able to match Twitch.
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