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Twitch fires over 500 employees

The gaming video streaming platform was bought by Amazon a decade ago for almost a billion dollars

10 January 2024

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Key points

What is Twitch
Amazon's other cuts

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Twitch, the video streaming platform mainly dedicated to gaming, acquired by Amazon ten years ago for almost $1 billion, is laying off more than 500 employees.

Twitch CEO Dan Clancy said in an email to employees that despite cost-cutting and increasing efficiencies, the platform "is still significantly larger than is necessary given the size of our business." "For some time now, the organisation has been sized based on where we optimistically expect our business to be in three or more years, not where we are today," Clancy wrote.

Amazon bought Twitch Interactive in 2014 for $970 million while looking for a way to take part in the growth of the gaming industry.

What is Twitch

Twitch is a multi-channel online network created for a generation of people who grew up with video games and who like to watch the performances of the world's best gamers, just as many people watch professional 'physical' sports.

Last month, San Francisco-based Twitch said it would withdraw from the South Korean market due to expensive network fees. Clancy claimed at the time that the network fees the company paid to South Korean Internet operators were 10 times higher than most other markets. However, he did not provide specific numbers to support these claims.

"As you all know, we have worked hard over the past year to run our business as sustainably as possible," Clancy wrote. "Unfortunately, we still have work to do to downsize our business and I regret to share that we are taking the painful step of reducing our workforce by just over 500 people."

Other Amazon cuts

Amazon has cut thousands of jobs after a hiring spree during the pandemic. Last March, Amazon announced it would lay off 9,000 employees, adding to the 18,000 employees the technology giant had said it would lay off in January 2023.

This week, job cuts are also taking place in other parts of the company. In particular, Amazon is cutting several hundred positions in its Prime Video and MGM Studios units. Mike Hopkins, senior vice president of Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, said in a note to employees that the company is increasing investments in the areas with the greatest impact, while taking a step back in the others.