Update: Twitch has now publicly confirmed that it has laid off "just over 500 people."
In a blog post published today (January 10), CEO Dan Clancy said: "We've made the difficult decision to reduce the size of our workforce today.
"At this point in time, we are focused on communicating with our employees and providing them with clarity on how this impacts each of them. We greatly value the employees we’re saying goodbye to today as people and professionals and are grateful for all their efforts to support all of you."
Furthermore, Clancy shared an email which was sent out to staff regarding the decision. In this, he noted that "it has become clear that our organization is still meaningfully larger than it needs to be given the size of our business," and was sized based on where it was hoped the business would be in several years.
"This decision, while incredibly difficult and painful, is necessary to ensure that we can continue to serve our streamers sustainably without impacting their ability to support their careers on Twitch," Clancy told staff. "Part of what makes this so difficult is the passion that so many of you share for the Twitch community, and the hard work you’ve put into serving our streamers."
Concluding his email to staff, Clancy said that "our focus is on taking care of each other." He added: "I am always grateful for how well you all support and show up for one another during our best and most difficult moments."
This article's headline has been altered to reflect this update.
Original story:
Live-streaming service Twitch is reportedly planning to make huge cuts to its workforce with around 500 members of staff expected to be affected, according to Bloomberg.
The report, which was published yesterday (January 9) claims that in total, approximately 35% of Twitch’s workforce will be impacted. This comes less than a year after the Amazon-owned streaming service announced that it was laying off over 400 people, in what CEO Dan Clancy described as a “difficult decision” which was not made “without considerable thought.”
TRG has reached out to Twitch for comment and will update this story if we get a response.
Last November, Amazon Games made cuts to over 180 jobs as the decision was made to shut down Crown Channel (an online streaming channel which regularly featured Twitch stars) and Game Growth. Game Growth described its aim as enabling “game consumers to easily find and access any game experience, for any platform, anywhere in the world” while “re-imagining how game creators promote their products.”
Layoffs were sadly constant in the games industry last year, and this latest report from Bloomberg isn’t the first time that they’ve been brought up in 2024. Yesterday (January 9), it was confirmed that game software development company Unity is cutting around 25% of its workforce, which will impact approximately 1,800 people.
In a statement sent to TRG, a Unity spokesperson said: “This decision was not taken lightly, and we extend our deepest gratitude to those affected for their dedication and contribution.
"We are committed to supporting impacted employees through this challenging transition. We appreciate the understanding and support of our community and stakeholders as we navigate these changes together."
If you’re looking for some new game recommendations, you can find some fantastic options on our lists of the best indie games, as well as the best indie horror games.
