Layoffs in the video game industry are showing no signs of ending, as in the second wave of job cuts, Amazon has laid off over 180 employees from its gaming division. Embracer Group, a Swedish video game company, has also laid off around 900 employees, or 5% of its workforce, during its second quarter that ended on September 30, 2023. Both the layoffs at the video game giants come amid restructuring at the companies.
Layoffs Continue as Amazon and Embracer Group Announce Fresh Job Cuts
Amazon announced the second wave of job cuts as part of a bigger restructuring at the company, as noted by an email sent to employees by VP of Amazon Games Christoph Hartmann. The company also shut down its Crown channel that streams on Twitch, which it also owns, in an attempt to refocus on Prime Gaming.
Prime Gaming offers free games every month for Amazon Prime subscribers. Amazon Games also laid off over 100 employees earlier this year, which affected employees in Prime Gaming, Game Growth, as well as its San Diego studio. In the email that was reported by the BBC, Christoph Hartmann said that it is focusing resources to take the business forward. Hartmann stated:
We are proud of the work the teams have been doing, pushing into new areas with weekly content on Crown Channel, and finding more ways to help publishers reach new audiences with Game Growth. But after further evaluation of our businesses, it became clear that we need focus our resources and efforts on delivering great games to players now and in the future.
Hartmann further added,
we’ve listened to our customers and we know delivering free games every month is what they want most, so we are refining our Prime benefit to increase our focus there.
He also shared that internal studios are actively recruiting and will be hiring for other positions in the gaming division, but he did not provide any other information on what’s changing. Notably, the company has cut thousands of jobs this year across several departments.
Embracer also announced back in June that it would be going through a restructuring that would result in studio closures and job cuts. The company has now revealed in its latest financial report that it has laid off 900 employees as part of its restructuring program. This was also confirmed by co-founder and CEO Lars Wingefors during its second-quarter earnings presentation. Wingefors stated:
Before we get into the business details of our second quarter, I want to start this conference by saying a personal thank you to the 900 who left Embracer during the second quarter.
As you will hear today, we are determined to transform Embracer into a leaner, stronger company. That said, it’s painful to me that you need to leave the group, and we have been, and are doing, everything we can to preserve jobs without changing what we need to achieve.
He further said:
Our people are what make up the very fabric of Embracer. For me personally, it’s crucial that the program is carried out with compassion, respect, and integrity.
Embracer also revealed that it has discontinued several studios, made staff reductions, and canceled several projects at the studios. The company added that it is focusing on improving the returns on PCs and consoles and said that although it was hard to part ways with everyone who left, it is important to continue the program.
The company has laid off employees from studios including Gearbox Publishing, Crystal Dynamics, the developer behind Tomb Raider, Beamdog, the studio behind the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake, Pinball FX developer Zen Studios, and a few others. The closed studios include Saints Row developer Volition and Campfire Cabal, and a few have been put up for sale.
There have been job cuts across the video game industry this year, including giants like Ubisoft, Epic Games, and PlayStation Studios, as well as Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 developer Insomniac Games and The Last of Us developer Naughty Dog.
This is seen as a result of the mass hiring that companies did during the pandemic years and are now laying off staff to cut costs.
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