Amazon has let go of 180 personnel in the gaming sector as part of a reorganization.
Internet behemoth, possessing game streaming website Twitch, is terminating its own station on the platform due to a lack of success in achieving widespread recognition.
In 2023, the gaming industry has been hit with the latest round of cuts, causing 6,500 job losses.
Despite the release of blockbusters from series such as Zelda, Spider-Man, and Mario during the year,
During the past half-year, a number of game companies, including Epic Games (maker of Fortnite), Ubisoft Montreal (creator of Assassin's Creed) and Niantic (developer of Pokemon Go), have stated that they are reducing staff.
Established in 2012, Amazon Games set out to create games for mobile platforms, although the scope of the studio has grown since then, with titles such as the acclaimed online games New World and Lost Ark.
In 2022, the company declared that it would release a single-player game based on the renowned franchise Tomb Raider, and in May it reported that it was creating a game based on the Lord of the Rings.
Amazon informed their staff via email that downsizing was part of a restructuring effort, according to the BBC.
In April, after restructuring, it became apparent that our resources had to be concentrated even more on the areas with the most probability of advancing our business, as explained by Christoph Hartmann, the Vice President of Amazon Games.
He mentioned that the firm was bringing in more people for its gaming division via recruitment.
It follows the trend of reductions across the tech industry in 2023, including the reduction of more than 25,000 posts by Amazon.
Christopher Dring, who is chief of GamesIndustry.biz, a portal providing info about gaming, asserted that the layoffs in gaming occurred as a reaction to the massive recruitment that happened at the beginning of last year (2020).
He remarked that people, confined to their homes, found solace in video games, not only for amusement but also to form relationships and enjoy collaborative gaming.
A noticeable increase in game sales was seen in the UK, the figures rising by more than 50%.
Game studios saw a growth in size as new teams were added, game developers relinquished their positions to form separate studios, and Microsoft, Sony, Tencent, Embracer, Amazon, Take-Two, EA were investing large sums of money acquiring other companies.
Once lockdowns were called off on a global scale, the sales began to drop off, with mounting inflation additionally playing its role in the slowdown.
Companies overspent during that time, resulting in higher costs; now a difficult 'adjustment' is happening as companies are working to reduce expenses.
In 2023, gamers have been presented with a plethora of options, giving rise to the challenge of selecting from a wide range of gaming titles.
There have been too many highly praised games to list, including Baldur's Gate 3, Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and Spider-Man 2, while the recent installments of the Super Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog series had garnered significant admiration.
In addition to these unexpected successes, Sea of Stars, Hi-Fi Rush and Dave the Diver have also met with great acclaim.
It may be baffling to people outside the gaming industry why job cuts are occurring despite the sector's current success - but those in the know would not be so astonished.
Mike Rose, the person in charge of No More Robots, a gaming publisher located in Manchester, indicated that a lot of businesses had been spending funds faster than their sales were bringing them in and were now trying to reduce their "burn rate".
He declared, "It was inevitable that the big studios had employed so much great talent during the pandemic, and now we're beginning to see the results - unfortunately, the [sales] are lower than anticipated."
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